On the 51st commemoration day of India’s Political Emergency, 112 concerned citizens and civil society representatives from across India issued “Step Back from the Edge: A Citizens’ Appeal for Peace, Justice and Sisterhood in Manipur”, calling for an immediate halt to the widening violence in Manipur and a credible peace process involving all affected communities.
The appeal has been facilitated by the South Asian Solidarity Collective, Friends of the Earth India and Delhi Solidarity Group.
The statement notes that Manipur has lived through more than three years of violence, displacement, militarisation, fear and separation. What began in May 2023 as a devastating Meitei-Kuki-Zo conflict has now entered a wider and more dangerous phase, with recent escalation involving Naga and Kuki communities. The signatories say this must not be allowed to become “a war of all against all”,
The appeal is clear that it does not blame or shame any community. It mourns the dead from all communities Kuki-Zo, Meitei, Naga and others and calls for the protection of civilians, release of detainees and hostages, tracing of missing persons, dignified return of mortal remains, humanitarian access, safe relief corridors and rebuilding of homes and education.
It states: “This is not the time for competitive victimhood or collective blame.” It further says: “No political claim, historical grievance, ethnic wound, territorial dispute or religious identity can justify the killing of civilians, hostage-taking, attacks on places of worship, burning of homes, targeting of women, or collective punishment of any community.”
The appeal also recognises acts of restraint, including the Naga civil society’s intervention that helped secure the release of 14 Kuki detainees from Naga custody despite intense public anger, as an important peace gesture. It says such acts show that community institutions can still choose responsibility over revenge.
A major concern raised in the statement is that the North East’s fragile peace processes must not be undermined. The appeal recalls that, for nearly three decades, the Govemment of India has entered into several ceasefire agreements and political negotiations with different communities and armed organisations in the region. It specifically refers to the Indo-Naga peace process, beginning with the 1997 ceasefire agreement with the NSCN-IM, as one of the most significant political trajectories in the region. The statement warns that if communities lose faith in ceasefires, peace talks and negotiated agreements, the region will be pushed back into deeper insecurity.
Among the prominent signatories are film-makers Anand Patwardhan, Suhasini Mulay, Meghanath and Asha A Joseph; writers and poets K Satchidanandan, Sara Joseph, Badri Raina, P N Gopeekrishnan, Anwar Ali and Peggy Mohan; senior journalists John Dayal, Pamela Philipose and Latha Jishnu, former Planning Commission member Dr Syeda Hameed; former civil servants Harsh Mander and V Venugopal; noted economists and public intellectuals Amit Bhaduri, Prof Manoranjan Mohanty and Dr Ghanshyam Shah; feminist scholars, social scientists and activists Uma Chakravarti, Rita Manchanda, Nandini Sundar, Radha Kumar, Ruth Manorama, Vibhuti Patel, Chayanika Shah, Kalyani Menon. Sen, Lara Jesani, Gabriele Dietrich and Sujata Gothoskar, environmental and climate justice voices Prafulla Samantara, Soumya Dutta, Rohit Prajapati and Shripad Dharmadhikary; people’s movement leaders Roma, Meera Sanghamitra, Ramkrishna Tandel, Ashok Chowdhury, Sudhir Katiyar and Thomas Franco; public health voices Dr Vandana Prasad, Sarojini N and Dr Vikas Bajpai; and North East scholar Dr Walter Fernandes.
Women’s rights organisations and feminist voices constitute a major part of the signatories, including activists from Sahiyar (Stree Sanghathan), Stree Mukti Sanghatana, Indian Christian Women’s Movement, Muslim Women’s Forum, NAPM, PUCL, AIUFWP, NFF, FoE-India, Ze To Campaign, and several independent feminist researchers and academics.
Annie Raja, political women’s rights activist, said: “Women of Manipur have historically held communities together in moments of crisis; today, women’s organisations across Kuki-7n, Naga, Meitei and other communities must be enabled to become the first custodians of peace.”
Dr Syeda Hameed, former member of the Planning Commission, said: “Manipur is not a distant borderland; it is a test of the Indian republic’s constitutional morality, and the Union Government must act before faith in peace itself collapses.”
Nicholas Chinnappan, President of Friends of the Earth India and Tamil Nadu land rights activist, said “The violence in Manipur cannot be separated from questions of land, resources, militarisation and dignity, peace must be built on justice, not silence.”
The appeal calls upon the Government of India and the Government of Manipur to protect lives without discrimination, prevent armed mobilisation, recover looted and illegal weapons from all groups, investigate killings, ensure safe passage and rebuild trust. It also demands an impartial, credible and time-bound peace process involving Kuki-Zo, Meitei, Naga, Pangal, Missing, Hmar and other affected communities, with the participation of women, church bodies, tribal institutions, student organisations, human rights groups, displaced persons, youth and trusted independent mediators.
The statement also calls for an independent, judicially monitored investigation into all major incidents of violence since May 2023, including killings, sexual violence, arson, destruction of places of worship, abductions, enforced disappearance, hostage-taking, custodial abuse, targeted attacks and the role of armed groups, state forces and political actors.
The appeal concludes: “Peace cannot mean silence. Justice cannot mean revenge. Fraternity and sorority cannot mean erasing historical grievances. Democracy cannot survive if communities are left to negotiate life and death through armed formations while elected governments and constitutional institutions fail in their duty.”
Issued by: South Asian Solidarity Collective Friends of the Earth India Delhi Solidarity Group
Contact: vijavanmi@gmail.com/+91 9868165471
