The People’s Progressive Alliance Manipur (PPAM) has demanded the immediate public release of the inquiry report into the Gwaltabi incident of May 20, 2025, and urgent steps to restore free and unhindered movement on Manipur’s national highways, which it said have remained restricted since May 3, 2023. The demand was made in a memorandum submitted to the Governor of Manipur on August 30.
The Gwaltabi incident involved security personnel of the 4th Mahar Regiment, who reportedly ordered a Manipur State Transport bus carrying accredited journalists to remove the word “Manipur” from its windshield before being allowed to proceed to Ukhrul for the Shirui Lily Festival. PPAM described the act as a humiliation of Manipur’s identity and a violation of the rights of journalists.
Although the state government constituted an inquiry committee on May 21, 2025, under the chairmanship of Home Commissioner N. Ashok Kumar and IT Secretary Th. Kirankumar Singh, the findings have not been made public for over three months. PPAM alleged that the delay suggested collusion and lack of transparency.
The Alliance stated that the incident could not be viewed in isolation from the broader crisis that began on May 3, 2023, when Kuki armed groups under Suspension of Operation agreements launched attacks that led to the total blockade of highways connecting Moreh, Dimapur, Jiribam and Guwahati. It claimed that while other communities were able to move freely, the Meitei community was systematically denied access, resulting in arson, extortion, destruction of goods-laden trucks, mass displacement, and the loss of livelihoods. It also highlighted that the situation had contributed to a rise in suicides among displaced persons.
PPAM described the situation as ethnic persecution rather than a security lapse. It warned that India risked complicity under International Humanitarian Law and the 1948 Genocide Convention, noting that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions prohibits collective punishment, while the Genocide Convention defines deliberate creation of conditions leading to the destruction of a community as genocide. The memorandum accused authorities of allowing SoO groups to control highways, thereby facilitating acts that could amount to war crimes and genocide.
The Alliance gave the government a seven-day deadline to release the Gwaltabi Inquiry Report, restore free highway movement for all communities, dismantle illegal check-posts, ensure the resettlement and rehabilitation of displaced persons, and prosecute what it termed as war crimes and genocidal acts under Indian and international law. It warned that failure to act would lead to intensified democratic agitations, including peaceful highway blockades, mass protests in Imphal and New Delhi, and legal action before national and international human rights bodies.
Declaring that the Gwaltabi incident symbolised an assault on Manipur’s dignity, PPAM stressed that the highway restrictions amounted to systematic persecution of the people. It urged the Governor of Manipur and the Government of India to take immediate action.