Why is the Manipur Problem Persisting? 

No niceties are required here and I go straight to the point. First, there are too many stakeholders, which range from the authorities to politicians of all hues and colours, national security analysts, the vested interests of the security apparatus operating in the State, the NGOs, and the game plans of the ethnic communities involved. The angle of geopolitics and foreign hand cannot be ruled out, and in the real-life manifestation of the Game Theory, the stakeholders are calibrating their responses to the first moves of other actors in the arena. Let’s call this cycle of inaction and reaction: Act Less, React More.
Each of the above thinks that the solution must originate from the other end. Waiting for a suitable break, buying time, and a wait-and-watch policy seems to be the pervasive norm across the board.
Second, the economic costs of the conflict have not sunk in and made a full impact, mainly due to the trickle-down of government employees’ salaries to the man on the street. Of course, the conflict has hit the common people the hardest, but the economic situation seems afloat because the Government employees are propping up the economy for the time being. I am afraid to say that the smaller size of the private sector in Manipur has been a boon in times of conflict. Imagine what the state of affairs would be if Manipur had an economy like Maharashtra, where the corporates run the show. As we are aware, the conflict has emasculated all private businesses, grounding them to a halt, except for some traders of essential commodities. Without the spending by the Govt. employees (who are often criticised for many reasons), the State would have fallen into famine, and daylight looting would have ensued as happened in Bangladesh yesterday if people saw their mortal existence threatened. The salaried class is still buying ngari, paying the helpers, contributing to fund mobilisation for the violence affected and knee-deep in the process of assisting the political leadership in restoring peace.
Third, a sense of resignation has set in among the Manipuri public akin to a sepsis. This is closely related to the Act Less, React More syndrome. We Manipuris have an inborn talent at adapting to situations and getting habituated to the status quo. We can brave hail and storms, power cuts and price hikes without even a murmur and other little inconveniences that would be considered horrors for the Bengalis in West Bengal and launch a thousand protests. Our ability to feel outraged is broken. Is this resilience or a sign of monumental indifference?
Fourth, it is a cliche, but it remains a fact nonetheless: our disunity is fantastic. Our social psychology is afflicted with narcissism, giving rise to an uncountable number of self-styled leaders. Civil society organisations or any entity of some significance are divided by factionalism. What one proposes, the other nay says. Democracy is thriving and kicking in Manipur, giving everyone the right to dissent with little consensus.
The last factor which is dragging the conflict is the nature of the conflict itself. The conflict has shifted from fistfights to a competition of spreading propaganda. Here’s a fact news: we all are masters of rhetorics and sophistry in social media and tweets, newspapers and TV discussion panels. Count me in.