4 min read Chandigarh May 10, 2026 03:22 PM IST

Army jawans stand guard in violence-hit area of Imphal town, Manipur. (File Photo)

Written by Brig (retd) Advitya Madan

News of recurring clashes in Manipur, whether between Kukis and Meiteis, or more recently Kukis and Nagas, lands with a particular heaviness on those who have lived and served there. For me, those headlines are overlaid with memories from 2013, when I commanded 27 Sector in Churachandpur. They are memories not of division, but of a fragile, hard-won togetherness that once seemed both real and sustainable.

A recent call from two old friends, one Kuki and the other Meitei, brought it all back with surprising clarity. Both had once received prosthetic limbs through a camp we organised with the Shree Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti of Jaipur.…