IMPHAL, Feb 11: The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a conglomerate of several civil society organisations, has expressed “grave concern and deep anguish” over the ongoing arson and burning incidents that erupted between Tangkhul and Kuki groups in Litan village under Ukhrul district since February 7, 2026, terming the violence as neither isolated nor accidental.
In a statement, the COCOMI said the incidents are “yet another tragic manifestation of a long and carefully engineered crisis that has been imposed upon the people of Manipur through proxy politics and deliberate institutional negligence.” It alleged that while the people of Manipur “bleed and burn,” there are those in New Delhi “celebrating the harvest of their twenty years of so-called investment.”
“What we are witnessing today is not an accident of history, but the predictable outcome of a policy architecture that has relied on proxy forces, selective silence and deceptive frameworks such as the Suspension of Operations (SoO) pact,” the statement said. The pact, it alleged, was never about genuine peace but has functioned as an instrument of control, leverage and long-term destabilisation of Manipur’s social fabric.
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The COCOMI said the violence in Litan village must be viewed in this larger context, asserting that in the present turmoil nobody would emerge a winner “except the deep state that thrives on division, fragmentation and internal strife among indigenous communities.” The “bitter fruits” of such politics are visible everywhere in the form of broken communities, burnt homes, displaced families and a society being pushed to fight itself, it added. “While this strategy bears fruit for its architects in New Delhi, it is the natives of Manipur who continue to pay the price in blood, tears and ashes,” the statement said.
The committee also recorded its “deep dissatisfaction and strongest condemnation” of the role of Indian security forces deployed in the affected areas. It alleged that security personnel remained “silent spectators” while houses were set ablaze in broad daylight, despite being present on the ground. “No effective or credible control measures were taken to stop the violence, protect civilian lives, or prevent the destruction of property,” it stated.
Describing such inaction as not new, the COCOMI said a similar pattern of conduct has been repeatedly witnessed over the past two and a half years of crisis in Manipur, raising serious questions about complicity, selective enforcement and the real objectives behind the deployments.
The committee further stated that it has consistently held both State and Central agencies accountable for what has happened and continues to happen in Manipur. “Though the present conflict involves different actors, particularly in the context of Kuki-related violence, the pattern of narrative management, administrative attitude and operational behaviour of the central forces remains disturbingly the same,” it said. This continuity, it added, reinforces public distrust and deepens the sense that Manipur is being subjected to a proxy war rather than being protected as a constituent state of the Union.
Warning that the situation in Litan village carries a serious risk of escalation and spillover into other hill areas, the COCOMI cautioned that if the violence is not immediately and decisively contained, it could trigger a wider cycle of retaliation and communal polarisation, further endangering lives, livelihoods and social harmony across the region.
In this context, the committee reaffirmed the resolutions adopted at the massive public rally held on January 31, 2026, which identified and condemned what it described as a “proxy war being waged by the Indian state against the people of Manipur.” The recent developments in Ukhrul district, it said, further justify and validate those resolutions. “What is unfolding today is not merely a failure of law and order; it is the consequence of a political and security approach that has normalised conflict, enabled armed proxies and treated the suffering of the people of Manipur as collateral damage,” the statement added.
The COCOMI called upon the authorities to immediately take concrete, transparent and impartial measures to stop the violence, protect civilians and hold accountable those responsible, both on the ground and within the chain of command. It also urged the people of Manipur to remain vigilant against external manipulation and divisive designs. “If we fail to recognise and resist this imposed conflict, we will continue to bleed and burn for someone else’s game,” it cautioned. (NNN)
