Harsh Mander: In the lacerated land of Manipur, borders of hate and a failed state
A new report explains why there is little hope for a quick return to peace in the state.
Join our WhatsApp Community to receive travel deals, free stays, and special offers!
- Join Now -
Join our WhatsApp Community to receive travel deals, free stays, and special offers!
- Join Now -
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi rose to address the newly elected 18th Lok Sabha on June 24, the hall of Parliament resounded with calls from opposition MPs demanding justice for Manipur. Yet, nothing changes. The state remains intractably divided, the communities profoundly estranged and some 60,000 forced to live for the past 17 months in austere relief camps with little prospect of returning to their homelands.
This conflict that broke out in Manipur on May 3, 2023, and grew into a civil war is the subject of a scholarly, sensitive account by Irfan Engineer and Neha Dabhade of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism. Their report – with careful attention to history and contemporary challenges – casts light on an immensely tangled situation in this border state and explains why there is little hope for an early return to peace.
In so doing, they carry forward the proud traditions of the founder of Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, the iconic Asghar Ali Engineer. Asghar Ali was one of India’s foremost peace activists. Deeply anguished by the suffering of survivors of hate violence, he would travel tirelessly to any corner of the country where communal conflict broke out. While striving to...
