Unpacking the brawl that sparked the Naga-Kuki conflict in Manipur

A pitch-dark road, a flash of torchlight, flaring tempers and a drunken brawl. On February 7 this year, a Manipur village that was until then spared from the ethnic violence that had engulfed much of the state became the site of an altercation that opened a new front of conflict.What appeared to be a minor street tussle in a region besieged by brutality and bloodshed went on to expose decades-old Naga-Kuki fault lines, which were overshadowed at the time by the Meitei-Kuki conflict that erupted in 2023.In the months that followed, violence spread across Manipur’s districts, with Nagas and Kukis ransacking villages, laying ambushes and mutilating bodies.

The clashes have claimed 65 lives, including three in Noney district on Saturday, taking the overall death toll from ethnic violence in Manipur in three years to at least 363. Thousands have been displaced.The events that unfolded that night in Litan village remain contested, with conflicting accounts of who started the fight and what followed. HT spoke to those involved in the brawl and witnesses to its immediate aftermath to reconstruct how a confrontation in an Ukhrul district village sparked a fresh wave of violence in Manipur.The night it beganStalin Shimrey, a 48-year-old Naga man, said he had finished conducting tuition classes at his home around 5 pm and went to his friend Leishi Yui Kasar’s house, less than 100 metres away, to have a drink on that Saturday evening.

At 7 pm, the two stepped out as Shimrey prepared to return home. The stretch between their homes was shrouded in darkness, he said.“We saw our friend Akamboi across the road flashing a torchlight to help us. He was slightly drunk and waving the torch around. The light fell on the faces of three Kuki men, who were also drunk. They got angry and confronted him,” Shimrey said.He said he and Kasar intervened, asking the men to leave.

“They walked away while I stopped to buy paan at a shop,” Shimrey said. But the men returned with more associates, he said.“They came back with seven or eight others and started beating Kasar. When I tried to intervene, someone punched me on the back of my head, and I fell to the ground,” he added. People aware of the matter said Shimrey lay unconscious for around 30 minutes, bleeding from his face.

A crowd gathered, and he was eventually taken to a hospital.Nemneikim Baite, a Kuki woman, disputed Shimrey’s account. According to the 24-year-old, she, her husband Tonggoulen Baite and her brother Lungsanglen Baite were the only ones involved in the confrontation.“My brother was returning home after visiting us when Akamboi flashed a torch in his face. Stalin and Kasar, whom I know, began abusing him,” she said.She said her brother called out for help.

“When we came out, my brother was telling Kasar to go home, but they started hitting him. I tried to separate them by holding Kasar, while my husband held Lungsanglen. Shimrey then joined the melee. My brother managed to free himself and punched Shimrey on the back of his head, causing him to fall. He hit the ground and started bleeding,” she said.Shimrey suffered a broken jaw and was admitted to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal, roughly 39km away.

He remained hospitalised for around two months.HT tried to contact Lungsanglen, but his phone was switched off. Nemneikim said he was training for the army but did not disclose his location. Also Read | 17 Kuki militants under SoO deal arrested in Manipur; mismatch found in identitiesTribal codeInhabited by both Kukis and Nagas, Litan is nested in the hills of Ukhrul, a Naga-dominated district.

It had 192 houses before the clash and a population of nearly 1,000, with the residents employed mostly in the agriculture sector and continuing to remain entrenched in their traditions.Nemneikim said that under tribal custom, a fight takes a more serious tone when blood is spilt. “The person who caused another tribal to bleed has to give an animal for sacrifice to the victim,” she said.Calling the police was never considered.

“It was decided to settle the matter through customary tradition and not involve the police,” she said.The same night, Naga elders approached the Kuki village chief, seeking to resolve the dispute through traditional means, people aware of the matter said. The following morning, however, the effort to broker a settlement ran into trouble. From there, the two accounts of what happened again begin to diverge.Also Read | At least 150 Kuki militants missing from Manipur camp, security agencies alert CentreA failed peace bidShimrey’s cousin Asayo, 51, said around 50 Naga villagers went to the Kuki chief’s house demanding that Lungsanglen be handed over to them so that he could be reprimanded and made to pay compensation.

He alleged that the chief, who was related to Lungsanglen, had hidden him.“That morning more than 100 Kukis started gathering at the Kuki chief’s house. There were Kuki militants among them. When Lungsanglen did not show up, our Naga villagers went straight to his house and shattered everything. Kuki people started throwing stones, and our people started firing blank shots. Everyone retreated, but at around 10pm they started burning the Naga houses in the village,” Asayo said.Siema Vaiphei, Lungsanglen’s cousin, gave a different account.

She said Naga militants had begun searching for Lungsanglen on Saturday night, forcing the family to hide him. The family had also bought a pig and other items as part of the customary settlement, she said.“But when the meeting was underway, Naga militants started demanding that Lungsanglen be handed over. They went to his house and started damaging it, but the Kuki villagers gathered.

There was firing, and the meeting could not happen. Around 10pm Naga people started burning the Kuki houses in the village,” Vaiphei said.Also Read | More ethnic groups caught in vortex of violence in Manipur; Kuki man killed in fresh clashesA widening divideThe accounts might differ ove…