The Union government has deferred the Census exercise in Manipur, a day before it was due to begin, even as fresh killings in the state’s Kangpokpi district and a bitter row between two Deputy Chief Ministers underlined how deeply the northeastern state remains divided along ethnic lines.
Census put off after NRC demand
The Census house-listing exercise, part of Census of India 2027, was scheduled to start across Manipur on September 1. It has now been postponed after a high-level review meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Monday, August 31. According to a press release issued by the Government of Manipur’s Chief Minister’s Secretariat, and available with Christian Today India, the meeting was attended by Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan and other senior officials.
The meeting discussed a demand raised by several groups to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC), a document meant to distinguish genuine Indian citizens from illegal immigrants, before any Census is conducted. The government agreed to defer the Census “considering the feelings and aspirations of the people of Manipur.” Chief Minister Singh thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah, and credited 14 civil society organisations and a delegation of state BJP legislators who had lobbied in New Delhi. He appealed to civil society groups to give up bandhs and general strikes in favour of dialogue.
The Manipur High Court separately directed that the Census and house-listing exercise remain withheld pending further notification from the Registrar General of India, with the next hearing set for October 12. The NRC demand, using 1951 as the base year, has been pressed jointly by the Meitei community, the Pangals (Meitei Muslims) and the Nagas, over concerns about illegal migration from Myanmar. The Kuki-Zo Council has rejected the demand as “premature and unjustified” and had wanted the Census to proceed as planned.
A school principal among the dead
The latest cycle of Naga-Kuki violence began on August 27, a day after Chief Minister Singh had met Shah in Delhi to brief him on the peace process and the law and order situation in the state. Gunmen ambushed a group of six people travelling between Makui Ashang and Thanamba Naga villages along the IT Road at around 8:30 am, killing four of them. The United Naga Council (UNC) identified the dead as Tadsongbou Ringkangmai, founder and principal of Right Path School at T. Khullen village, Wisobou Charenamai, chairman of the Chawangkining Village Authority, Mariakdibou Wijunamai and Anil Wijunamai. Gaikamang Ringkangmai was injured, while Japou MK, the sixth member of the group, escaped unharmed.
The UNC blamed cadres of the Kuki National Front (Presidential faction), the Kuki National Front and the Kuki Revolutionary Army, Kuki armed groups that had signed a Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement with the Centre in 2008. Kuki organisations, in turn, alleged that cadres of the NSCN (IM), a Naga armed group that has held a ceasefire with the government since 1997, fired at farmers the same morning at Wakhotphai village in Kangpokpi, though there was no report of any casualty there.
Deputy Chief Minister Losii Dikho called the attack on the Naga civilians “heinous and barbaric.” Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam said, “This senseless violence has caused deep anguish among the Naga community and peace-loving people of Manipur and strikes at our collective efforts to restore peace and normalcy. Those responsible will face the full force of law,” and appealed to the Nagas to maintain peace and restraint. Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio condemned the killings as well and called for action against those behind them. Former Manipur Chief Minister and senior BJP leader N. Biren Singh was sharper still, asking, “How many more innocent lives must be lost before decisive action is taken?” He noted that the families of six Naga men killed by Kukis in June were still awaiting justice, and said, “Condemnations, assurances and mere words are no longer enough.”
This was not an isolated incident. Two Nagas were killed and two others injured in Kangpokpi on August 14 as well. The present cycle of Naga-Kuki violence is distinct from the major conflict that convulsed the two communities in the 1990s, and has been running since February 2026, alongside the wider Meitei-Kuki conflict that has gripped the state since May 2023.
Three Kukis shot dead days later
On August 31, gunmen opened fire at N. Teikhang village along the same IT Road corridor, killing three Kuki villagers, two of them women, and injuring four others, before setting several homes on fire. The dead were identified as Tingneichin Lhouvum (40), Hoineineng Lhoujem (21) and Lamtinthang Lhoujem (36). The injured included Nemneichong Lhoujem (50), Seilun Lhoujem (70), Deilhing Haokip (55) and Kamtinsei Chongloi (38).
The Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust (KOHUR), which holds special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, said in a press release that police in Imphal had, at the time of writing, confirmed two fatalities, with the final toll yet to be ascertained. The Superintendent of Police, Kangpokpi, identified as Abhinav, confirmed to reporters, “Three individuals died and four others were injured after a firing incident happened in the T Waichong subdivision,” adding that police were investigating all aspects and had yet to identify the assailants.
The Twilang Area Kuki CSO Working Committee alleged that the attackers belonged to the NSCN (IM) and its alleged proxy, the Zeliangrong United Front (Kamson), or ZUF (K), a claim that has not been independently verified and which the Naga groups named have not responded to. The Committee called the killing of unarmed civilians and the burning of homes an assault on “human dignity, the rule of law and the Christian values of peace, compassion and respect for human life.”
Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh wrote on Facebook, “I strongly condemn the killing of three villagers, including two women and the injuries sustained by four others... The Government will not tolerate such violence. The culprits responsible for the killing will be arrested and punished as per the law of the land.” KOHUR, for its part, demanded that the government abrogate the 1997 ceasefire with the NSCN (IM) insofar as it allows the group’s cadres to operate near Kuki-Zo areas of Manipur, along with an independent investigation, deployment of security personnel to villages along the IT Road, and relief for the bereaved and displaced.
Both sides target each other’s peace pacts
Nine Naga MLAs, including Deputy Chief Minister Losii Dikho, wrote a letter dated August 29 to Shah, hand-delivered on Monday, August 31, demanding the abrogation of the SoO agreement with Kuki-Zo groups, the arrest of Kuki-Zo leaders linked to the June killings, and action against fellow Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen, whom they accused of colluding with a militant group led by her husband, Thangboi Kipgen. KOHUR, meanwhile, wants the NSCN (IM) ceasefire scrapped. The Naga MLAs have warned they may withdraw support from the BJP-led state government if their demands go unmet.
The August 31 killings brought the toll in the Naga-Kuki conflict, which sharpened after the abduction and killing of six Naga men in June, to 36 dead, 18 from each community, since February. That runs alongside the Meitei-Kuki conflict, which has displaced over 50,000 people and killed more than 250 since May 2023.
