One person was killed and 15 were seriously injured on Saturday in clashes between Kuki-Zo protestors and security personnel in different parts of Manipur’s Kangpokpi district.
The police said that 27 security personnel were injured in the violence during the protests. Of them, two were critically injured.
Protests erupted on Saturday against a state government announcement from March 7 that public bus services would be arranged between Manipur’s valley and hill districts. The violence began after a group of Kukis stopped a public transport bus in the district.
While the Kukis are in a majority in the Kangpokpi district, the Meiteis dominate the Imphal valley.
The protests were also against a “march to the hill districts” of Manipur proposed by an Imphal valley-based civil society organisation named Federation of Civil Society Organisations. The march was planned in the wake of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s directive to officials to ensure free movement on all roads in the state from March 8.
The person who died on Saturday has been identified as Lalgou Singsit. The 30-year-old sustained bullet injuries in the Keithelmanbi area of Kangpokpi, and died while being taken to hospital, PTI quoted the police as saying.
Protestors were injured after clashing with security forces at Gamgiphai, Motbung and Keithelmanbi. Those injured have been admitted to nearby public health centres.
Demonstrators in some places set fire to private vehicles and tried to stop a state transport bus that was going from Imphal to the Senapati district, PTI reported. Some protestors also blocked the National Highway 2 from Imphal to Dimapur, and burned tyres to block the movement of government vehicles.
The police said that security forces showed “tremendous restraint” while controlling the mobs, and used minimum force.
Even after 22 months, Manipur continues to be on edge. @scroll_in
Video credit: Special Arrangement pic.twitter.com/2qCVzUILgt
— Rokibuz Zaman (@ZamanRokibuz_) March 8, 2025
The Kuki-Zo Council, an organisation representing tribal groups in the state, said it strongly condemns the government’s decision “to impose ‘free movement’ as the government was fully aware of the potential for violence if such a decision is put into action”.
The organisation added: “The Kuki-Zo Council firmly emphasises that while the idea of peace is indeed welcomed by all, it cannot be achieved through the imposition of force at the expense of a particular community…Forcing peace upon unwilling parties can lead to resentment and further conflict, undermining the very goal of harmony.”
The Kuki-Zo Council claimed that security forces “escorted” protestors seeking to travel to the hill areas. The police, however, said that the claim was baseless.
Manipur has been mired in ethnic conflict between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities that broke out in May 2023 and has left at least 260 dead and displaced more than 59,000.
The Federation of Civil Society Organisations, which comprises 20 groups, said that the objective of its march on Saturday was to deliver messages of peace to the “buffer zones” and the villages in the hills.
