Five months on, peace eludes ethnic violence-hit Manipur

For five whole months, as Manipur waits on an elusive peace, in a village in the tribal Churachandpur, a mother still waits for justice, a police investigation, or even her slain son's body. 63 kilometres, and an intractable ethnic chasm away, in the capital Imphal, a wife waits for any information on her missing husband and his friend, not even counted among the dead, because their bodies have never been found.

- Utpal Parashar and Prawesh Lama

On May 3, violence began coursing through Manipur immediately after a tribal solidarity march that was protesting a Manipur high court order that had asked the state government to consider bringing the Meiteis, the ethnic majority in the state, into the scheduled tribe fold. The state was yet to act on the court order, but the fire spread quickly, spreading all across the state. In the five months since, 178 people are dead, official numbers say, and over 50,000 displaced from their homes.

In that time, homes have been burnt, businesses lost, studies affected, places of worship burnt to a cinder, the state has lived without internet for months. And there are still families that have no semblance of closure, or justice.

Hanglalmuan Vaiphei, the 21-year-old college student from Thinhkangphai village in Kukidominated Churachandpur district for instance, found himself in police custody on April 30, arrested for a Facebook post allegedly targeting the Meiteis and chief minister N Biren Singh.