A state drifting between lawlessness and administrative collapse

For more than three years, Manipur has been trapped in a crisis that has steadily eroded public confidence in governance, constitutional institutions and the rule of law. What was once presented as a temporary breakdown of order has now evolved into a dangerous normalisation of administrative paralysis, selective governance and institutional silence.
The concerns emerging from the valley are no longer limited to ethnic violence alone. Increasingly, questions are being raised about whether laws enacted by Parliament, constitutional procedures and institutional norms are being bypassed with impunity in several major public institutions functioning in Manipur. The growing perception among the public is that rules matter only when convenient, while politically sensitive decisions are increasingly insulated from accountability.
Institutions such as Manipur University, Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences and National Sports University have repeatedly found themselves at the centre of controversies relating to appointments, administrative authority and procedural legitimacy. Questions continue to surface over whether statutory provisions, Acts of Parliament and institutional procedures are being fully respected in the appointment of key administrative heads. Yet, public clarification remains limited, and accountability mechanisms appear weak or absent.
The discontent is even sharper in the case of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, where many locals increasingly feel alienated within an institution historically associated with the people of Manipur. Concerns are being voiced that opportunities even at lower levels are gradually slipping away from local candidates, while decision-making appears increasingly detached from local realities and sentiments. Whether fully accurate or not, such perceptions are politically and socially significant because they reflect a widening trust deficit between institutions and the people they are meant to serve.
At the same time, the law and order situation continues to deteriorate in alarming ways. In the valley districts, repeated incidents of bomb attacks on civilian homes have created an atmosphere of fear and insecurity. Armed groups continue to operate despite intensified security deployment, and ordinary citizens increasingly feel that civilian safety has become secondary to political management of the conflict.
In the hill areas, the situation appears even more disturbing. Groups operating under Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreements continue to face allegations of openly moving with arms, exerting territorial control, detaining civilians, torching houses and intimidating local populations. The recent incidents involving hostage-taking between communities have exposed how fragile and dangerous the situation has become.
What deeply troubles the public is not only the violence itself, but the apparent inability — or unwillingness — of the state machinery to decisively enforce the law. Security forces are heavily deployed across Manipur, yet deadly gunfights, abductions and armed intimidation continue with frightening regularity. To many citizens, the state increasingly appears present everywhere physically, but absent institutionally.
This contradiction has become one of the defining features of the Manipur crisis: unprecedented militarisation alongside deepening public insecurity. When heavily armed groups continue to operate in conflict zones despite massive deployment of forces, people inevitably begin to question who actually controls the ground reality.
The longer this uncertainty persists, the more dangerous the consequences become. A society cannot function indefinitely when constitutional institutions lose credibility, when laws appear selectively applied, and when ordinary people begin to feel abandoned by the very structures meant to protect them. Governance cannot survive on silence, optics and temporary crisis management alone.
Manipur today does not merely face an ethnic conflict. It faces a profound crisis of governance, legitimacy and public trust. The erosion may not happen dramatically in a single moment, but gradually — through silence over irregularities, inaction against lawlessness, and the slow normalisation of fear and helplessness.
The people of Manipur deserve more than official statements and routine assurances. They deserve transparent governance, equal enforcement of law, accountable institutions and above all, the assurance that the Constitution still functions with the same force in Manipur as it does elsewhere in the country.