On April 7, 2026, a tragic incident in Tronglaobi claimed the lives of two innocent children while they were asleep. The incident triggered widespread public outrage and led to a prolonged blockade and shutdown. Although the shutdown has now been lifted, Kwakta remains excluded and continues to face restrictions on the movement of goods.
For the past 20 days, essential supplies have not reached Kwakta, leaving the village of approximately 30,000 population cut off and vulnerable. On April 26, 2026, Meira-Paibis from Moirang set fire to the goods that were being taken to Kwakta.
Unsung Heroism
Located between Moirang (Meitei majority) and Churachanpur (Kuki majority), Kwakta lies in a highly sensitive zone. When the crisis broke out on May 3, 2023, between Meitei and Kuki on the Tiddim road at Torbung, adjacent to Kwakta (a village of the predominantly Meitei-Pangal community), it went through nightmares yet was proactive in saving lives from both communities.
This village has been the epitome of peaceful coexistence since time immemorial. However, on that unfortunate day, verbalising emotions became impossible.
History witnessed the indelible moves made by the Meitei-Pangals community of Kwakta when both communities were displaced; Kwakta’s Community Hall and houses were converted into ‘relief camps’ and sheltered them overnight.
My uncle’s home rescued two people from both communities, though kept separately. The community even garnered the courage to call for peace amidst the crisis by marching in a peaceful march on May 30, 2023.
On April 9, too, Kwakta Terakhongsangbi held a sit-in protest demanding justice for the two innocent kids killed in Tronglaobi.
Now, all that has been undocumented, Kwakta seems quite irrelevant, where two identity crises often overshadow the plight of Kwakta that resides being sandwiched. The plight is real. At this juncture, the role played by the smaller communities like Meitei-Pangals (Manipuri Muslims, which make up 8.40% of the state) remains ignored.
The community from Kwakta has been treated like criminals, considering they sell goods to Kukis. Even if they don’t, they were not allowed to purchase and carry any essentials in bulk that were meant for the Kwakta people.
While the majority of the Meitei-Pangal of Kwakta survives on meagre jobs and farming, most of them live their lives hand to mouth, barely able to make ends meet. It becomes easier to exploit people who are in a compromising position.
From May 2023 till now, in every flare of incidents, the goods that reach Kwakta are destroyed and halted. So also on April 26, 2026, after three years, the treatment is the same: the goods are suspected, halted, and destroyed, while a population of over 30,000 in Kwakta constantly asks for help from the state authorities.
Unspoken Atrocities
Kwakta also witnessed the explosion of a high-intensity IED on June 21, 2023, that injured three Meitei-Pangal youths identified as Md Mustak, aged 15, from Kwakta Sevla; Afad, aged 7, from Kwakta Ward no. 7; and Yunus, aged 18, from Kwakta W/8.
The high-intensity IED bomb was fitted on a Bolero and exploded near a culvert between Kwakta and Phougakchao Awang Leikai on Tiddim road.
The minor was evacuated to the Community Health Centre for first aid; one was battling for life. Kwakta in August 2023 also witnessed the killing of three Meitei youths identified as Paonam Apollo (32 years), Paonam Mobi (CDO), and Longjam Olen (17 years), suspected to have been attacked by Kukis, and the repercussions among both communities were borne by Pangals of Kwakta through forced displacement and destitution.
Kwakta also faced severe hardship due to extortions and the kidnapping of several Pangal brothers from the village. Three people, unjustly abducted on February 15, 2024, from Kwakta by Arambai Tenggol, ignited a fire of protest and were later recovered beaten and thrown in some barren land.
Individuals are being abducted and held for ransom, further exacerbating the tensions and insecurity in the state. Kwakta Maning Labuk (close to hills), houses of Pangals were used as bunkers to carry out the fight between two groups by black-outfit youths, displacing the village.
Kwakta has repeatedly stood as a shield, but its sacrifice has gone unacknowledged. Once a peaceful village nestled in Manipur’s Bishnupur district, it is now echoed with the anguished cries of neglect.
Deafening silence meets the pleas of the Meitei Pangals in the failed state. Their pain remains unseen, their voices unheard between the stories of dominance. Incidents like this become too small to be taken into account as they aren’t considered big enough to talk about.
Kenneth Waltz stated that states are like billiard balls, colliding against one another. The people in power should embrace the smaller community and hammer out a deal—a deal that follows a middle path. The centre and the state need to hear it out with a level-headed approach. “Let’s give peace a chance, not guns and bombs to the wounded state.”
This act of destruction and extortion tears not just at the fabric of Kwakta but at the very soul of Manipuri, built upon a legacy of tolerance and inclusivity. Kwakta condemns every killing and every atrocity in our state and feels each one deeply, yet it is met only with cold indifference.
Its only “fault” is that it neighbours two conflicting communities and continues to carry the burden of kinship, trade, and survival. Kwakta sharing the bond and borders among the two communities was not decided; it was destined, and one should not tryst with destiny, but rather extinguish the embers before they fan into a societal inferno.
Views expressed are that of the author and do not reflect EastMojo’s stance on this or any other issue. The author is a Research Scholar at Jawaharlal University, Delhi.
Also Read: Aizawl 1966 to Manipur 2026: India’s long habit of looking away
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