IntelBrief: Long Simmering Tensions Erupt into Deadly Violence and Mass Displacement in Manipur

Bottom Line Up Front

• At least 60 people are reportedly dead, hundreds hospitalized, and tens of thousands displaced and homeless after violence erupted last week in India’s northeastern state of Manipur.
• Ethnic tensions between groups in Manipur have been simmering over land rights issues and alleged crackdowns on minorities. These tensions have led to violent clashes in the past.
• Thousands of Indian troops and paramilitary forces have been deployed to rein in the chaos, with the Manipur government issuing a curfew, an Internet shutdown, and in “extreme cases,” a shoot-on-sight order.
• Critics have accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of poor governance, with some local leaders in Manipur blaming the BJP and other Hindu nationalist organizations for exacerbating political tensions and amplifying the scope and scale of the violence.