The Manipur Crisis: A ground report

On the morning of June 12, 2025, Nganthoi Sharma Kongbrailatpam, a 21-year-old cabin crew member from Manipur’s Thoubal district, placed what would be her final call to her sister. “I’m flying to London today,” she said, her voice calm but excited. She reminded her that she wouldn’t be reachable until June 15—standard for long-haul international crew duty. It was a routine moment for a young woman living her dream, thousands of miles away from the tensions brewing back home. Hours later, her name would appear on national news broadcasts, one of the many lives lost in the catastrophic crash of Air India Flight AI-171 near Ahmedabad.

Among the crew listed was another young woman from Manipur—Lamnunthem Singson, a member of the Kuki community. Like Nganthoi, she had chosen a career that demanded poise, professionalism, and quiet courage. The two women may have boarded that flight as colleagues, perhaps even as friends. But in their home state of Manipur, their communities—Kuki and Meitei—remain deeply divided by a conflict that has claimed lives, displaced thousands, and fractured the fragile social fabric of a land already long ignored by mainland India. If a kuki is seen in a Meitei village or a Meitei is seen in a Kuki village, their fate would most probably be cruel. This is taking place in the significant north eastern region of the world's largest democracy.

Nganthoi’s body was flown to Imphal, the state capital. But Lamnunthem’s body could not follow the same path. Because Kuki people are no longer safe in Imphal,the capital city. her remains were flown to Dimapur in the neighbouring state of Nagaland, then brought by road to her parents’ home in Kangpokpi district—a route carved not by logistics, but by violence and fear. “For those of us who have lost so much and still feel unsafe, why would we even consider going through Imphal?” asked her cousin, Ngamlienlal Kipgen. “This route may be our new normal, but it was anything but normal this time. People came together to honour my sister, bringing us so much comfort.” (https://www.outlookindia.com/national/the-road-not-taken-lamnunthem-singsons-final-journey-and-the-ruptured-cartographies-of-manipur)

When I spoke to Kipgen about the decision to take his cousin’s mortal remains via the neighbouring state, he said : Since 2023, our new normal to travel back home has been through Dimapur (Nagaland) airport. We as a family decided to take her ...