Trouble makers with an agenda Hands in the conflict situation
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Sworn in as Chief Minister on February 4, 2026 after a spell of President’s Rule along with five others in the Council of Ministers. Not even six months but Manipur has seen and experienced quite a lot in just a little over five months since the new dispensation took over. Just a little over one month after Y Khemchand and his Council of Ministers took over, came the Tronglaobi explosion which killed two sleeping infants and seriously injured the mother in the wee hours of April 7. Imphal and the valley districts exploded in anger and protesters came out on the streets in full strength in yet another display of public angst and despair, a scene with which Manipur has become familiar with since the evening of May 3, 2023. At about the same time, tension started building up between the Nagas and the Kukis, first at Litan in Ukhrul district, punctuated not only by intermittent firing at Sanakeithel (Sinakeithei) but also the stopping of passenger vehicles and abducting hapless passengers on the Imphal-Ukrul road. The stand off expanded to the clinical ambush near TM Kasom village along the same said road stretch, killing two passengers, including a retired soldier. This was on April 18. The stand off had morphed into something more lethal and something more dangerous for blood, human blood, had started to flow. Since then the Imphal-Ukhrul road has stayed blocked and people from Ukhrul and Kamjong now are forced to take a circuitous route to come down to Imphal. A taxi ride that normally takes less than 3 hours now means a ride of more than 5 hours or nearly 6 hours. April heralded the arrival of a new battlefront in Manipur, this time between the Nagas and the Kukis and forward to May and Manipur woke up to the chilling news of three senior Church leaders of the Thadou community killed while they were on their way back to Kangpokpi from Churachandpur on May 13. The Kuki Inpi, Manipur and other Kuki CSOs lost no time in pointing the finger of accusation at the NSCN (IM) and the Kamson group of the ZUF, all the while overlooking the fact that the killing took place in a Kuki dominated area. As news of the assassination of the senior Church leaders did the round, 18 Naga people were waylaid and taken into custody by the people, including womenfolk, of Leilon Vaiphei village. In retaliation, the people of Senapati took a number of Kuki people also into custody. Manipur knows what unfolded in June, especially after the bodies of the 6 Naga men were discovered and are still lying in state at the mortuary of JNIMS. It is amid this reality that Chief Minister Y Khemchand has gone on record to publicly state that there are elements out there who want the conflict situation in Manipur to continue.
The Chief Minister stopped short of naming anyone in underlining this point while addressing a mandal level political workers’ conference at Lilong on July 18. Not the first time that the Chief Minister has pointed fingers at unnamed schemers for fomenting trouble and it was sometime in June this year that the Chief Minister had alleged that there are certain elements who want to keep the pot boiling and in the process gain ‘financial benefits’. As stated earlier here, the Chief Minister stopped short of taking names, but not clear whether such a line has been conveyed to the political leaders at Delhi or not. To the people of Manipur, the assertion of the Chief Minister could mean so many things with each drawing up his or her interpretation, but one wonders if such a situation can be helpful to the larger cause of Manipur or not. And the Chief Minister also has reasons to ‘believe/suspect’ that there are some elements out there who want the conflict situation to continue. Khemchand is the first Meitei politician to have crossed the Kuki dominated Kangpokpi to go to Senapati, the first Meitei political leader to have gone to Chura-chandpur and to Ukhrul via Litan as well as Jiribam. Call it coincidence or any other term, but the violence in Ukhrul district came shortly after his visit to the hill district and herein lies a case. The stand of The Sangai Express is clear. If there are such elements, the Government should go all out to book them.
The Chief Minister stopped short of naming anyone in underlining this point while addressing a mandal level political workers’ conference at Lilong on July 18. Not the first time that the Chief Minister has pointed fingers at unnamed schemers for fomenting trouble and it was sometime in June this year that the Chief Minister had alleged that there are certain elements who want to keep the pot boiling and in the process gain ‘financial benefits’. As stated earlier here, the Chief Minister stopped short of taking names, but not clear whether such a line has been conveyed to the political leaders at Delhi or not. To the people of Manipur, the assertion of the Chief Minister could mean so many things with each drawing up his or her interpretation, but one wonders if such a situation can be helpful to the larger cause of Manipur or not. And the Chief Minister also has reasons to ‘believe/suspect’ that there are some elements out there who want the conflict situation to continue. Khemchand is the first Meitei politician to have crossed the Kuki dominated Kangpokpi to go to Senapati, the first Meitei political leader to have gone to Chura-chandpur and to Ukhrul via Litan as well as Jiribam. Call it coincidence or any other term, but the violence in Ukhrul district came shortly after his visit to the hill district and herein lies a case. The stand of The Sangai Express is clear. If there are such elements, the Government should go all out to book them.