Naga-Kuki strife began with a drunken brawl. But five months later, Manipur faultlines run deeper

On the night of February 7, a fight broke out between four drunk young men in a small town in Manipal’s Ukhrul district.

Two of them were Tangkhul Nagas, the majority community in Ukhrul. The other two were Kukis.

Typically, a brawl such as this would have been settled by village chiefs from both communities.

But the matter did not end there.

A day later, an abandoned Kuki home in a nearby village was set on fire. In retaliation, about 20 houses belonging to the Tangkhul Naga community were set ablaze.

For two more days, fires scorched villages around Litan, the tiny commercial town where the fight took place. Gunfights broke out. According to police records, seen by Scroll, 74 homes belonging to both communities were set ablaze.

By all accounts, the violence in Litan lit a fire between Kukis and Nagas in a state that has already seen a ‘partition’ on ethnic lines in 2023 after fierce clashes between Kukis and Meiteis left at least 260 dead.

A month after the arson and gunfights in Litan, the killings began.

At first, two Kukis were found in the hills near the town. They had been shot dead. In April, two Naga men were killed on the highway that connects Ukhrul to Imphal via Litan.

In the...

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