Three years on, Manipur remains on edge: What's behind the latest unrest?

MAnipur has been on the inch lately o'er a recent incident involving the deaths of deuce children — siblings — in a suspected bomb assail, an incident which sparked refreshed unrest and a security clampdown in the region.Manipur has remained tense since May 2023 after a high court order sparked a deadly ethnic violence episode between Meiti and Kuki communities. While reports of violence decreased in 2025 after unrest for three years, the status of peace in the state remains fragile.The now-revoked Manipur high court order of May 2023 granted Meiti community certain benefits, including land ownership in protected areas and quotas in government jobs.What's behind latest tensions in Manipur?A suspected rocket strike on a house killed a five-year-old boy and his six-month-old sister in the early hours of April 7, triggering tensions. Later that day, a group of protesters stormed a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp, vandalised it and set vehicles on fire. Security forces allegedly opened fire afterward, killing three people. Over two dozen others were injured.Internet was snapped and curfew was imposed in some districts of Manipur as the unrest triggered a security clampdown. In the most recent development linked to the unrest, two shutdowns called by different organisations to protest the death of the two children and several civilians in separate incidents by suspected militants impacted normal life in several hill and valley districts of Manipur on Monday.Women's organisation Meira Paibis called a five-day shutdown since Sunday to protest the April 7 bomb attack at Tronglaobi in Bishnupur district, in which a 5-year-old boy and his 6-month-old sister were killed while sleeping, and their mother was injured. The United Naga Council also called a three-day "total shutdown" beginning Monday to condemn the death of a retired Army man and another person after suspected militants fired at an Ukhrul-bound convoy of civilian vehicles coming from Imphal on April 18.Educational establishments and markets remained shut, while public transport was off the roads in all five valley districts, home to the Meitei community, and Naga-inhabited areas of Ukhrul and Senapati districts, PTI news agency quoted officials as saying.Sit-ins against the killings were observed at various parts of Imphal valley inluding at Uripok and Nagaram locality of the state capital.Meanwhile, six persons, including three women Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, were injured after a clash broke out between protestors and security forces during a torch rally held in Manipur’s Thangmeiband region in Imphal on Saturday, according to the police.This happened when a large number of protesters marched towards Khwairamband Ima market and were blocked at several locations. Confrontations broke out in Thangmeiband, Sagolband and Uripok areas of Imphal West. Security forces lathi-charged, fired tear gas shells, mock bombs, rubber bullets, and live rounds to control the protestors, who retaliated by throwing stones and firing slingshots.At least six people, including three CRPF personnel—Ritika Kumari, Santosh Kumari and Sancita Indra—were injured and taken to the nearby health care centre.Unrest in Manipur has claimed at least 260 lives and displaced around 60,000 people since May 2023. It first began between the Meitei and Kuki communities and has since involved almost every group.