New report exposes state complicity in May 2023 Manipur violence
New Delhi: A new report by India’s largest human rights organization, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has revealed that the violence in Manipur, which erupted on May 3, 2023, was not spontaneous but planned, ethnically targeted, and facilitated by failures at the state level.
According to Kashmir Media Service, released at the Press Club of India, New Delhi, the 694-page report, titled Independent People’s Tribunal on the Ongoing Ethnic Conflict in Manipur, was authored under the chairmanship of former Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph.
The Tribunal was set up by PUCL in 2024 with a jury of eminent figures chosen deliberately from outside Manipur to ensure neutrality. Over 150 survivors gave oral testimony, while thousands more submitted accounts in writing or through group discussions. “The voices we heard,” the jury wrote, “paint a picture of systemic impunity and targeted brutality.” The report records that more than 60,000 internally displaced people “remain in camps with no end in sight, even after 27 months of violence.”
The report dismantled two key narratives: the portrayal of Christian-dominated Kukis as “illegal immigrants” from Myanmar and claims that they were driving poppy cultivation. These were found to be exaggerated and politically weaponized, serving to demonize the Kuki community.
The report highlights how long-standing ethnic divisions, socio-political marginalization, and land disputes were exacerbated by “systematic hate campaigns and political rhetoric” that amplified mistrust between the Hindu-dominated Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities. A major trigger for the violence was the March 27, 2023, order by the Manipur High Court recommending Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the Hindu Meiteis, sparking fears among Christian tribal groups like the Kukis and Nagas that their constitutional protections would be eroded.
“The judgment acted as a catalyst,” the report noted, “setting off state-wide protests on May 3, which quickly descended into targeted violence.”
Survivor testimonies provided some of the report’s most searing insights. “We saw killings, mutilations, disrobing of women, and sexual violence on a large scale”. Women testified that police often failed to help them, and in some instances, “handed them over to mobs.” One survivor told the jury: “We knew the violence was coming; the government did nothing to stop it.”
The report also revealed the collapse of relief measures, with hospitals attacked, medical staff fleeing, and patients denied treatment based on communal lines. Mental health consequences, including trauma, PTSD, and depression, were widespread, but no institutional support was provided.
The report’s findings on law and order were particularly severe – “FIRs were selectively filed, investigations delayed, and forces accused of active complicity.” It criticised the state government for failing to create impartial Special Investigation Teams. Both state govt and New Delhi were indicted for “enabling impunity and worsening ethnic divides.”
“The people of Manipur deserve more than piecemeal measures,” the report declared. “Without a systemic response, peace cannot return.” It ended with a stark warning: “if accountability is not enforced and impunity allowed to persist, Manipur could become a dangerous precedent; a template for future instances of state complicity in ethnic violence.”
