On May 3, 2023, ethnic violence erupted in Manipur, plunging the State into one of the longest-running internal conflicts in Independent India. Today, there is no resolution — only an uneasy silence, broken by sporadic violence, and bureaucratic inertia. Manipur remains a footnote, its crisis relegated to the periphery of national discourse.

The extension of President’s Rule in the State under Article 356 of the Constitution without meaningful political engagement, justice, or reconciliation exposes a deeper malaise: India’s democratic imagination excludes its northeastern frontier.

Myth of normalcy

The Union government has repeatedly claimed that “normalcy is returning” to Manipur. Yet, ground reports tell a different story as over 60,000 people remain displaced, living in squalid reli

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