Children’s Day in Manipur: A Question of Belonging and Forgotten Promises

As the nation celebrates Children’s Day, honouring the promise of safety, education, and hope for its young citizens, the children of Manipur remain haunted by a very different reality. Tears replace the cheer of festivities; worry weighs upon their small shoulders. Of the 60,000 displaced residents in Manipur, an estimated 40% are children, left vulnerable by a crisis that has persisted for nearly 18 months. For them, the promise of Children’s Day is hollow, drowned out by conflict, displacement, and fear. How, they might wonder, can a country celebrate its youth while leaving so many in the shadows?
Today, instead of celebrating, Manipur’s students took to the streets in protest, wearing symbols of distress and grief. As they stood for their abducted peers—three minors and three women taken hostage by armed Kuki militants in Jiribam—their message was clear: they are suffering, and they are unheard. The nation’s promises seem distant, a cruel irony when Children’s Day should be a celebration of their rights, their safety, and their future.
The central and state governments have so far provided little assurance. Nearly a year and a half into the crisis, children in Manipur are left struggling with trauma, their lives overshadowed by ethnic violence and insecurity. They face a landscape devoid of the stability children need to thrive. This is not just a matter of safety; it’s a matter of psychological survival, with entire generations growing up amidst a relentless cycle of violence and displacement.
The question arises: Is Manipur truly part of India? If it is, why are its children’s voices ignored? Why are these young citizens—supposedly cherished by the country—left with little more than despair on the day meant to honour their potential? As the rest of India revels in a future that seems within reach, Manipur’s children remain trapped in a reality that questions their nation’s commitment to them.
This Children’s Day should serve as a moment of reckoning, a call for the government to remember the children of Manipur. Their hope and innocence are at stake, but they deserve the same protection and promise that children everywhere in India are guaranteed. Let this day ignite an awareness that reaches beyond celebration, extending the hands of care, inclusion, and justice to Manipur’s young voices. The future of Manipur’s children—India’s children—depends on it.