REGULAR REPORTS FROM GROUND ZERO
ABOUT FIELDNOTES
Welcome to the Fieldnotes website. We are a dedicated digital media outlet committed to shedding light on the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur. We provide regular updates on the ground developments and offer deeper insights into the causes, nature, and dynamics of the crisis.
We also curate and publish special content including academic texts and visual data that highlights the historical context surrounding this moment, focusing particularly on the experience of the Zo people who have been at the receiving end of the current violence.
Fieldnotes was started as a daily publication on June 8, 2023, in the form of a news bulletin. We have since then provided regular reports on the ongoing Manipur violence and have featured special articles, poems, stories, and other content associated with the crisis. The daily issues were suspended in March 2024, after 10 months of daily publication. We have now transitioned into an online media outlet in order to expand our reach and explore even more effective ways of communicating our message. We are proud to have inspired other similar publications from kindred Zo organizations.
FIELDNOTES DAILY ISSUES
The launch of this Fieldnotes website, in staying true to our objective, is an initiative to give a voice to the minority Zo ethnic tribes (Zomi-Kuki-Mizo) of Manipur, oppressed and silenced by majoritarian State government, and massacred by its mentee – Meitei radical and militant forces. It is also a collective and contributive platform making a clarion call to all concerned and responsible citizens toward justice, human rights and peace in this part of India.
Fieldnotes seeks to give voice to the Zo people
Editorial | April 29, 2023
ZOMI CONFERENCE BEING HELD IN LAMKA
The conference will chart a way forward for the Zomi tribes amid the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur
LATEST EVENT
Inevitable Split Vol - I
This document provides an analytical insight into the historical background and immediate causes of the ethnic violence that broke out on May 3, 2024. It highlights the crimes against humanity committed on Zo tribal civilians by Meitei mobs and radical militia outfits like the Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun, and the collusive role played by Meitei state functionaries and police forces, and the Valley-based media houses. It emphasizes the inevitable split that has occurred between the Zo people and the Meitei community, and argues for a Separate Administration for the Zo tribals as the only viable solution.
Inevitable Split Vol - II
This document builds on the arguments of the previous volume. It explicates the factors that lie behind the aggravated and militant nature of the Manipur ethnic violence, locating at its root the deep-seated nexus between the Manipur government, Meitei terrorist outfits, and radicalized Meitei civil society groups. It also serves as a clarion call to the Indian government as well as concerned stakeholders in the national and international arena to take immediate action to stem the rising national security threat at India’s Eastern Frontiers. Total Separation, for the Zo ethnic tribes, from this militarized cartel is highlighted as the only means to prevent an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in North-East India.
DOSSIERS
Analyses the fundamental historical misunderstanding that underpins the Meitei’s idea of modern Manipur.
Explains why Hill-Valley conflicts in Manipur are intractable and argues for Separate Administration as the key to lasting peace.
Highlights the barbaric sexual and physical crimes committed on Zo women by Meitei mobs and radicals.
