THOUGHT PIECE
UNPACKING THE DISSOLUTION OF TRUST AND MONOPOLY OF LEGITIMATE STATE VIOLENCE IN MANIPUR
By Tawnsuanlal Valte | April 28, 2024
The current Manipur violence completes one year since its eruption on 3rd May, 2024. This violence has caused untold misery, displacement and pain to the Zo ethnic Kuki, Zomi, and Hmar/Mizo group of tribes in Manipur. This article focuses on the structural dissolution of trust that eventually led to the outburst of violence on 3rd May, 2023. This shall be done by critically analyzing the manner in which the state government made its political moves in the months and years preceding the conflict...
YO LO VI: AN ANNIVERSARY OF GENOCIDE
By Thangkhankhup Hanghal | May 3, 2024
The 3rd of May marks a year of systemic violence and genocide in Manipur. Despite hollow claims of "timely interventions" and flashy appearances, nothing seems to be changing. Who will save us then?...
AGAINST THE GRAINS OF FANATICISM AND EXCLUSION: POLITICS OF FORGETTING
By Suanmuanlian Tonsing | May 4, 2024
Why do you think our communities swiftly united amidst the violence during the prolonged identity crisis?”. “Would this cohesion have occurred had the attacks been situated at a specific village inhabited by the Kukis?”. Many of the participants in my research noted that the assaults by Meitei mobs and radicals on the Zo ethnic tribes in Imphal compelled the different Zo tribes to unite, as everyone was equally affected. Some argue that if the attacks had initially targeted a specific Kuki village, such as those in Kanggui, the Zomis in Lamka or the Hmars in Pherzawl might have eventually distanced themselves from the experience. The Imphal massacres and the mass Zo exodus from the Imphal Valley were pivotal in our solidarity, yet the public memory appears to have faded as the attacks post the Imphal pogrom predominantly targeted Kuki villages (although a few Hmar villages also suffered severely). This analysis elucidates the power of fanaticism and exclusion, which ultimately manifest as a politics of public memory...
MANIPUR: A FAILED STATE WITHIN MULTIPLE SOCIETIES
By L Do Sian Mung | May 3, 2024
Manipur embodies a classic case of a failed attempt at instituting a state amidst a multiplicity of mutually exclusive societies - some which are anti-state and some, against co-optation and assimilation within a state. It is a case where attempts at instituting a statist order fails miserably, where pre-existing societies and cultures are feebly integrated, only to be at the brink of a collapse...