Agenda of opening a third front ? The place of occurrence
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Ongoing Meitei-Kuki clash. Ongoing Naga-Kuki clash primarily in Ukhrul district. Broad daylight ambush and assassination of at least three Thadou Church leaders including former general secretary of Manipur Baptist Convention along the Churachandpur-Kangpokpi road, infamously known as German/Tiger road and the common denominator running through all the cases referred to here is the Kuki people, led by its militant outfits. Open and shut case, yet the Government of India continues to treat them with kid’s gloves much to the chagrin of the Naga and Meitei people and this is where understanding the significance of the term ‘proxy war’ becomes important. The open clash between the Meitei and the Kuki people is well known and so is the clash between the Tangkhul Nagas and the Kuki people at Ukhrul district but what is still not yet clear is who masterminded the ambush and assassination of at least three Thadou personalities and the injuries inflicted on five others on May 13, 2026. As news of the ambush and the killings spread, some Facebook handlers coming under different names lost no time in pointing the accusing finger at one group of the Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF), with some even adding the name of Arambai Tenggol. Nothing could be more farcical than such an assumption for a closer study of the place where the ambush took place should leave no one in doubt that the incident occurred at a place which is deemed to be a stronghold of Kuki militants, groups which have signed the SoO pact with the Government of India. It may take days for the Government to unravel the untold story behind the ambush, but what is clear is the fact that the three slain persons were on their way back to Kangpokpi after attending a Church related meeting at Churachandpur. And the place where they were shot dead is an area identified as a stronghold of one of the Kuki armed groups. Unlikely that any other armed groups would have ventured into the lair of the Kuki militants given the present reality in Manipur. If the Government really applies its mind to the matter at hand and if it has the conviction to prevail upon Delhi to act, then cracking the case should not be such a tall task. The only question is whether the Government at Imphal would be in a position to assert itself and ask Delhi to crack down on the armed outfits active and operating in the said area. The very fact that this line has been stated here should be understood in the backdrop of the fact that till today the State Government is nowhere near unmasking the hand that set off the RPG attack at Tronglaobi in April and which killed two sleeping children as well as the ambush near TM Kasom village on the Imphal-Ukhrul road some time back. Given the present reality and the direction towards which the State is heading, one cannot expect the State Government to deal with the situation with the firmness it requires and Delhi is most likely to continue calling the shots. This is what is extremely disturbing to note.
In as much as no one is sure who executed the ambush on the Kangpokpi- Churachandpur road, it stands that this has all the potential to throw wide open the question of whether there is some design to open a third front after the ongoing Meitei-Kuki clash and the Naga-Kuki clash in Ukhrul district. This possibility should be viewed with the seriousness it deserves and one just has to recall the manner in which a Thadou leader, Nehkam Jomhao, was done to death in Assam by a Kuki militant group sometime in August of 2025. It should ideally be an open and shut case, for if a murderous ambush takes place in say Kakching or Lamlai in Imphal East, it should not need rocket science to put two and two together to work out the total sum. The three Church leaders were killed while on their way back to Kangpokpi from Chura-chandpur via the German/Tiger road and it is difficult to even entertain the idea that anyone from outside Churachandpur or Kangpokpi would have known they would be taking the said route. The Government should start working on the premise which is obvious even to a layman instead of beating around the bush and letting precious time slip away.
In as much as no one is sure who executed the ambush on the Kangpokpi- Churachandpur road, it stands that this has all the potential to throw wide open the question of whether there is some design to open a third front after the ongoing Meitei-Kuki clash and the Naga-Kuki clash in Ukhrul district. This possibility should be viewed with the seriousness it deserves and one just has to recall the manner in which a Thadou leader, Nehkam Jomhao, was done to death in Assam by a Kuki militant group sometime in August of 2025. It should ideally be an open and shut case, for if a murderous ambush takes place in say Kakching or Lamlai in Imphal East, it should not need rocket science to put two and two together to work out the total sum. The three Church leaders were killed while on their way back to Kangpokpi from Chura-chandpur via the German/Tiger road and it is difficult to even entertain the idea that anyone from outside Churachandpur or Kangpokpi would have known they would be taking the said route. The Government should start working on the premise which is obvious even to a layman instead of beating around the bush and letting precious time slip away.