Suspected militants set fire to several houses in an abandoned Kuki village, Khoikai, in the Naga-majority Kamjong district, early on Wednesday morning, escalating inter-community tension.
Khoikai, near Chassad, was abandoned in the wake of growing hostilities between Naga and the Kuki-Zo communities since September this year. The extent of the damage and the identities of those responsible have not yet been established. The arson comes amid continuing ethnic tensions in Manipur, where clashes between Kuki and Naga communities have reportedly claimed more than 50 lives and left dozens of houses burnt since the beginning of the year.
Roadblocks, protests
Meitei-majority Imphal valley remained paralysed for the second consecutive day on Wednesday following a shutdown, multiple dharnas and roadblocks protesting Monday’s killing of three Meitei men in the Kuki-Zo majority Kangpokpi district.
The 48-hour shutdown across the valley districts called by the civil society organisation Native People Committee Manipur (NPCM) from Monday midnight sought concrete action from the administration against those involved in the killings by suspected militants.
Logs and benches barricaded roads. “All kinds of vehicles, private or public, were stopped by protesters unless there was a valid reason; businesses, big and small, remained shut. The roads remained deserted except for the protesters,” said an Imphal resident.
Taekwondo meet row
Protesters, mostly Meira Paibis (women activists), gathered outside the venue of the 1st Manipur State Pomsae Taekwondo Championship 2026 at the Khuman Lampak Sports Complex in Imphal in the afternoon to oppose the hosting of the meet amid the shutdown. Security forces had to fire several rounds of mock bombs to disperse
the protesters.
According to reports from Imphal, the protest took place when Manipur chief minister Y. Khemchand Singh and home minister Govindas Konthoujam were at the venue.
The taekwondo meet organisers had appealed for exemption from the shutdown. Proceedings at the meet resumed after protesters were dispersed. Reportedly, six protesters were injured by security forces.
The chief minister was conferred the Grand Master 9th DAN by the Global Traditional Taekwondo Federation (GTTF) at the taekwondo championship’s inaugural function, where he showcased his martial arts skills.
At another protest site at Khabeisoi, protesters burnt effigies of the chief minister, home minister and Rajya Sabha member A. Sharda Devi.
INDIA demand
An INDIA bloc delegation led by Congress leader and former chief minister, Ikrom Ibobi Singh, visited Nongsum to meet the families of the three Meitei men killed on Monday.
Manipur Congress legislature party leader K. Meghachandra Singh said in an X post that the continuing killing of civilians reflected the government’s “complete failure to maintain law and order and protect its citizens”.
“Enough is enough. Manipur cannot be allowed to bleed indefinitely. Condolences cannot replace governance, security and justice. The Government must immediately restore law and order, strictly enforce the SoO ground rules, and end this cycle of violence. Indefinite violence cannot and will not be tolerated,” he wrote. Singh referred to the Suspension of Operations pact aimed at ending armed hostilities to enable political dialogue.
A Kuki-Zo organisation, the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), on Wednesday accused the administration of bias, pointing to prompt response to the killings of the Meitei men but apparently remaining indifferent to the concerns of the Kuki-Zo people in and around Chassad.