Indian opposition slams Modi’s belated visit to troubled Manipur

NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a long-awaited visit to the country’s northeastern state of Manipur last weekend, his first since ethnic violence rocked the region two years ago leaving more than 250 people dead and tens of thousands displaced.

The country’s opposition parties, including the Indian National Congress (INC), had long demanded that Modi visit Manipur, which has been strife-torn since May 2023, when clashes broke out between the majority Meitei community and minority Kukis over preferential policies, including economic benefits, job quotas and land rights.

The Meiteis, who are mostly Hindu, constitute the majority of the state’s population of more 3 million. They live mostly in the Imphal Valley, which covers only about 10% of Manipur’s territory. The mostly Christian Kukis, along with the Naga community, make up around 40% of the population and reside in the hills that comprise around 90% of Manipur’s land area.

The Kukis hold official “scheduled tribe” status in India, which is granted to the most disadvantaged groups. That status comes with benefits such as land rights in hilly and forested areas, and quotas for government jobs and education. A local court order in March 2023 directing the state government to consider the same status for Meiteis triggered protests by Kukis, who see Meiteis as better-off. The situation soon turned violent. In February 2024, the court modified its order and rescinded the instruction to the state government, but divisions between the two communities persist.

During his visit to Manipur on Saturday, Modi laid the foundation stone of and inaugurated a number of development projects worth more than 85 billion rupees ($966 million) in the Kuki stronghold of Churachandpur and in the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley aimed at improving infrastructure and creating new health care and education facilities in the state.

“Manipur is the jewel adorning the crown” of India, Modi said during the visit. “Therefore, we must continually strengthen Manipur’s developmental image.

“Any form of violence in Manipur is most unfortunate. Such violence is a grave injustice not only to our ancestors but also to future generations. Hence, we must collectively advance Manipur on the path of peace and development,” he added.

Modi’s critics were not impressed. INC President Mallikarjun Kharge posted on X that Modi’s “3-hour PIT STOP in Manipur is not compassion — it’s farce, tokenism, and a grave insult to a wounded people.”

A woman throws flowers on the coffins of Meiteis who were killed after ethnic violence broke out in Borobekra, during a funeral in Jiribam in the northeastern state of Manipur, India, in November 2024.   © Reuters

Gaurav Gogoi, another INC leader, said the first step on the journey to peace and healing in Manipur should have been a visit by Modi to the state two years ago.

“Now two years late his visit should primarily be about respecting the sentiments of the Northeast. Instead the optics are tone deaf and concentrated on the image of the Prime Minister rather than the ground reality,” he posted on X on Saturday.

Enaxi Saikia Barua, a journalist based in India’s northeast who has kept an eye on developments in the region since the early 1980s, said, “It would have been good if Prime Minister Modi visited Manipur earlier. Nevertheless, his visit brings some hope to the people of the troubled region.”

“Modi announced a slew of developmental projects, which shows that his government is trying to uplift both the people and economy of the region,” she told Nikkei Asia.

The state, which borders Myanmar and is seen as a key to India’s Act East policy aimed at strengthening ties with Southeast Asia, has been directly ruled by the federal government after Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, who belongs to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, resigned in February amid pressure to step down following the ethnic violence.

An analyst from the region who declined to be identified said Modi’s visit should be seen as “political messaging” ahead of elections in eastern state of Bihar later this year and the northeastern state of Assam in 2026. After his Manipur tour, Modi visited Assam for two days until Sunday and Bihar on Monday.

“The Manipur visit should boost his party’s image in the poll-bound states,” the analyst said, pointing out that civil society across India had been waiting for the prime minister to visit Manipur. “Even though it’s a delayed visit, it’ll have some positive impact for his party in upcoming state polls.”

The article appeared in asia.nikkei