SUMMARY
The conflict between the Hindu Meitei and the Muslim Pangal ethnic groups erupted in 1993, in India’s northeastern Manipur state. Northeast India, sometimes referred to as the “Seven Sisters” after the seven states that comprise the region, has since independence been a patchwork of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups. These relatively small and sparsely populated (by Indian standards) states have experienced a turbulent history, stoked by ethnic tensions and insurgencies. One particularly prominent part of the social and political milieu in the region has been the demographic stress and conflict brought by migration from the rest of India and Bangladesh. The population in the northeast is categorized in two principal categories: the “indigenous” tribal population, and the “immigrant” non-tribal population that is comprised of ethnic (such as Bengalis) or religious (such as Hindus and Muslims) groups found in India proper. Among the tribal populations, there has often been a perception of discrimination compared to the non-tribal communities; however, such perceptions have also existed between tribes, and between different communities within the non-tribal population. Both the Meitei and Pangal are considered part of Manipur’s non-tribal population.
Unlike many other parts of India, Manipur had been spared from any large-scale Hindu-Muslim violence prior to the eruption of the Meitei - Pangal conflict in 1993. The proximate cause of the conflict was said to have been a disagreement between Meitei and Pangal over a monetary transaction in the Lilong Bazaar area, Thoubal district. The clashes were however also the result of increasing intergroup and religious tensions in Manipur; the Pangal were most likely targeted because of a growing perception among the non-Muslim population of being “overrun” by Muslim settlers.
The conflict – which played out as ethnic rioting – spread fast and mainly affected Manipur’s Imphal and Thoubal districts, with five townships around the state capital Imphal being particularly hard-hit; fighting also spread to the Manipur University campus. The violence lasted for several days and claimed more than 100 lives, many of which were stabbed to death; a majority of those killed belonged to the Pangal group. Aside from the killings, there was also considerable property damage, as houses, particularly those of the Pangal, were set on fire. Security forces, with the help of curfews and civil society groups, were eventually able to restore order.
A direct consequence of the communal conflict was the creation of the armed Pangal rebel group PULF, which initiated a separatist conflict for an independent Islamic state in Manipur (for more on this, see India: Islamic State).
The non-state conflict between Meitei and Pangal is first included in UCDP data in 1993. In May, violent clashes between the two ethnic groups had resulted in more than 100 battle-related deaths.
