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Manipur

Naga and Meitei Groups Hold Joint Sit-In at Ima Market, Demand Justice for Conflict Victims

By Sentinel NE Desk · July 13, 2026 · 2 min read
Photo: PP Yoonus / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Members of the Naga and Meitei communities, joined by Meitei Pangals and other groups, staged a large joint sit-in at Imphal’s historic Khwairamband Ima Market on July 7, demanding justice for civilians killed during Manipur’s ethnic conflict and accusing both the state and central governments of failing to act.

The protest was organised jointly by the Naga People’s Union Imphal, Imphal Naga Business Association, Foothill Naga Coordination Committee, Khwairamband Nupi Keithel, Ima Gi Meira, and the Committee on Coordinated Response and Rehabilitation, among other groups, drawing participants from both valley and hill communities.

Organisers demanded that the state government convene a special or monsoon session of the Manipur Legislative Assembly to discuss the security situation, called for abrogation of the Suspension of Operations agreements with Kuki armed groups, and sought the release of Naga and Meitei village volunteers arrested in connection with the violence.

A central grievance raised at the protest concerned the killing of six Naga civilians who were allegedly abducted and murdered roughly a month earlier — the same case that had by then triggered a weeks-long economic blockade on NH-2 near Namdilong, which Sentinel NE Desk covered separately. Speakers said that although one Kuki organisation had reportedly admitted involvement, no arrests had followed, and that the victims’ bodies remained at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences mortuary awaiting identification and burial.

Imagi Meira convenor Sujata Thokchom told reporters that indigenous Meitei and Naga communities had been targeted during the conflict without government follow-through on justice, while Naga activist Ashang Kasar pressed authorities to identify and prosecute those responsible for the six deaths without further delay. Organisers framed the joint Naga-Meitei turnout as a deliberate departure from single-community protests, aimed at building a shared platform after months of separate appeals yielded little government response.

Neither the Manipur government nor the Kuki organisation referenced in the case had issued a public response to the specific demands raised at the sit-in as of this report. Sentinel NE Desk will update this piece if the state responds or if the case against those allegedly involved in the six killings progresses.

Compiled from reporting by Imphal Times, India Today NE, EastMojo, and Eastern Mirror Nagaland Sentinel NE Desk cross-checked these accounts, including how Nagaland-based and Manipur-based outlets each framed the protest, before publication. This piece connects to Sentinel NE Desk’s earlier reporting on the NH-2 blockade tied to the same case. Photo: Ima Keithel (Ima Market), Imphal — PP Yoonus / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0), used for general context; no image from the protest itself has been used or rehosted.

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