A high-level independent tribunal has concluded that the ethnic violence that engulfed Manipur from May 3, 2023, was a planned attack rather than spontaneous unrest, indicting both state and central governments for enabling the crisis through institutional breakdown. The 694-page report, released by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) at the Press Club of India, represents the most comprehensive independent investigation into the conflict that has displaced over 60,000 people and left them languishing in relief camps for 27 months.
“The violence which erupted on May 3, 2023, was not spontaneous but planned, ethnically targeted, and facilitated by state failures,” concluded the Independent People’s Tribunal chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph. The tribunal, comprising 14 jury members and three experts deliberately chosen from outside Manipur, recorded testimonies from more than 150 survivors who painted what the report called “a picture of systemic impunity and targeted brutality.”
The report has drawn fierce criticism from Manipur’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanajaoba Leishemba, who dismissed it as “biased, one-sided and unprofound” during a public event Sunday. Leishemba, who founded the Arambai Tenggol group mentioned in the report, demanded “a strong probe against this PUCL” and warned the findings could mislead the Meitei community. The tribunal has recommended establishing a permanent High Court bench in hill districts, creating independent Special Investigation Teams monitored by the Supreme Court, and prosecuting those responsible for hate speech and propaganda.
