Last day of the first month of 2026 A march with a purpose
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It was a rally, a march with a purpose and the purpose of the rally was not lost in the decibels of the slogans that sliced through the air of Imphal on the last day of the first month of 2026. January 31, 2026 ended with a purpose and Meitei CSOs under the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) did not beat around the bush but aimed straight at the target, the Government of India, for what is largely perceived to be its utter failure to deal with the situation, a situation that dates back to May 3, 2023. Delhi, as it is its wont, is most likely to look over the matter, but an important point has been delivered and that is the complete lack of trust and confidence in the Government. Not exactly a situation under which the Government may be expected to take Manipur to the road of normalcy. The question is whether this failure is due to the incompetency of the Government or is a well crafted script to suit a bigger agenda, an agenda which only Delhi can spell out, but which is nonetheless gaining fast currency amongst the people. And it was with around this axis that the January 31 rally or march found so many takers with the people of Manipur, people drawn from all sections of the community. Apart from Delhi, the target of the rally was also against large scale infiltration from across the border, the drug trade which provides the fuel and fodder to the Kuki-Zo outfits and a line which came out so succinctly in the call to abrogate the SoO pact. The call to abrogate the SoO pact will run off Delhi’s back, like water does off a duck’s back, but the very fact that this call has been raised should leave no one in doubt over the continued failure of the Government to go after the big fish in its War on Drugs campaign. The Government has not openly admitted to this, but it is clear to any laymen that it is only the armed group which can have the resources to finance the poppy plantations, collect the harvested crops from the planters, find the market and turn the harvested crop into hard cash. Nearly three years of the violence and at least certain fundamentals must have become clear to the people and it is against this reality why questions have been raised on why no seeming efforts have been made to open the National Highways despite the Centre rushing in 60,000 troops after the State went up in flames on May 3, 2023. And as pointed out here more than once, Union Home Minister Amit Shah did talk about the weapons looted from the different police armouries in Imphal and the valley districts, but not once did Delhi question about the guns used to fire at the valley areas or on the Meiteis. From where did these guns come from ? Should be an open and shut case and it is against this reality that the SoO pact was yet extended for another term. The long rope given to the armed Kuki militants is more than obvious.
It is primarily against the politics that has come to define the ongoing clash that Manipur marched on January 31, 2026. As noted, Delhi will brush this aside but it is more than opportune to call out the politics that is being played on the blood, sweat and tears of the people of Manipur. Just some days after the clash erupted on May 3, 2023, Union Home Minister Amit Shah pointed to the ruling of the High Court of Manipur which had just asked the State Government to send the ethnographic and socio-economic report of the Meitei community to the Centre to study its demand that the said community be included in the ST list of the Constitution of India. One wonders where this line of thought disappeared in the latter days of 2023, 2024, 2025 and now 2026. In one sweeping statement Delhi sort of tried to give a sense of legitimacy to the Tribal Solidarity March of May 3, 2023, but there is nothing to suggest that it has studied why violence erupted only at Churachandpur and which quickly spread to Moreh and Kangpokpi. The Tribal Solidarity March was also held on the same day, at almost the same time at Senapati, Ukhrul, and Tamenglong, but it did not get reduced to an exercise of targeting a community, which in this case were the Meiteis. The January 31 rally did not raise this point vocally, but question one should, why the ST issue has not been mentioned even once, after the initial days of May and June in 2023. Just another example drawn up here to underline how Delhi has been dealing with the situation here and Manipur has every reason to feel peeved.
It is primarily against the politics that has come to define the ongoing clash that Manipur marched on January 31, 2026. As noted, Delhi will brush this aside but it is more than opportune to call out the politics that is being played on the blood, sweat and tears of the people of Manipur. Just some days after the clash erupted on May 3, 2023, Union Home Minister Amit Shah pointed to the ruling of the High Court of Manipur which had just asked the State Government to send the ethnographic and socio-economic report of the Meitei community to the Centre to study its demand that the said community be included in the ST list of the Constitution of India. One wonders where this line of thought disappeared in the latter days of 2023, 2024, 2025 and now 2026. In one sweeping statement Delhi sort of tried to give a sense of legitimacy to the Tribal Solidarity March of May 3, 2023, but there is nothing to suggest that it has studied why violence erupted only at Churachandpur and which quickly spread to Moreh and Kangpokpi. The Tribal Solidarity March was also held on the same day, at almost the same time at Senapati, Ukhrul, and Tamenglong, but it did not get reduced to an exercise of targeting a community, which in this case were the Meiteis. The January 31 rally did not raise this point vocally, but question one should, why the ST issue has not been mentioned even once, after the initial days of May and June in 2023. Just another example drawn up here to underline how Delhi has been dealing with the situation here and Manipur has every reason to feel peeved.