बेबाक · Editorial
Three Deaths in Manipur and a Ceasefire Under Siege: The State Must Lead, Not Follow
Neither gunfire nor street pressure should settle the Suspension of Operations pact. Manipur needs public facts on the killings and an open review of the ceasefire.
What has happened
Three Kuki men have been killed in gunfire in Manipur, according to news reports. At the same time, Meitei and Naga groups rallied in Imphal to demand that the Suspension of Operations pact with Kuki-Zo armed groups be scrapped. The reporting does not establish whether the two events are connected. Together, though, they show how far the state has to go. Lives are still being lost, and the framework meant to contain armed conflict is being contested in public. The republic's answer must be the same for every community: establish the facts of the killings, and decide the future of the pact through accountable institutions.
The core tension
The killings and the rallies pull in opposite directions. One community is mourning three of its men. Others are demanding an end to a pact to which Kuki-Zo armed groups are party. The available reporting does not establish who fired, under what circumstances, or whether the dead were combatants or civilians. These facts should be treated as unsettled until an impartial authority establishes them. In a place where trust between communities is already thin, an unexplained death becomes material for competing stories. Each story hardens positions, and each hardened position makes the next death more likely. The state cannot let that cycle replace evidence.
Both sides, honestly
The case made in Imphal deserves to be stated at its strongest. Its critics argue that a ceasefire which does not end violence has stopped being a peace instrument and has become a shield. The opposing case is just as serious. Ending the pact abruptly, with nothing to replace it, could push armed cadres out of any monitored arrangement. It could also deepen a belief among Kuki-Zo residents that the state has chosen a side. Both arguments come from real fear and real loss. Neither should be dismissed as bad faith. A responsible government weighs them on evidence and does not simply side with whichever group is louder that week.
The silence that feeds rumour
The public record so far is thin, and the reporting does not point to any official findings on the deaths. That gap is itself a failure of governance. When the state does not quickly explain how three men died, or how well the Suspension of Operations pact is being honoured on the ground, citizens fill the gap with suspicion. A pact whose working is invisible to the public cannot win the confidence of those who must live with it. Openness is not a concession to any community. It is the minimum that a constitutional state owes everyone in a troubled region.
The verdict
This is a matter of grave concern, but not of despair. Whether to continue, amend or end the Suspension of Operations pact is a legitimate policy question, and citizens are entitled to raise it peacefully. It must not, however, be answered under the pressure of a rally or a bullet. The Union and state governments together carry that responsibility. Their first duty is impartial protection of every resident of Manipur, whatever their community. A ceasefire is a promise by the state to every citizen in a contested land. It should be revised in daylight, by accountable institutions, not dissolved by pressure.
A way forward
Three steps are feasible now. First, order a time-bound magisterial or judicial inquiry into the three deaths, and publish its findings within a fixed period. Second, conduct and publish a review of how the Suspension of Operations pact is being observed: whether its terms are being honoured, where they are breached, and what enforcement has followed. Place that review before the appropriate elected bodies, including Parliament. Third, open structured consultation with Meitei, Naga and Kuki-Zo civil society, so that any change to the pact is negotiated rather than imposed. Throughout, security forces should be seen as guardians of all communities. Peace in Manipur will rest on fairness that every community can see.
A ceasefire is a promise by the state to every citizen in a contested land. It should be revised in daylight, by accountable institutions, not dissolved by pressure.
What this editorial rests on
Drawn from our live multi-newsroom feed — read the reporting at source.
An editorial is the considered opinion of the FarziUPSC desk, argued from the sourced reporting above and written under our published persona, बेबाक. We name institutions, not parties. If we are wrong, we will say so. How we work →