Advertisement

       SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

       Supported by

       SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

       Dozens of Unclaimed Bodies Show That an Indian Conflict Remains Open

       The government has tried to shift the focus. That’s harder with morgues still full of bodies six months after the start of ethnic violence in Manipur.

       Share full article

       Read in app

       A memorial for the victims of ethnic clashes in Manipur in July. Minority Kukis have accused majority Meiteis of ethnic cleansing. Credit...Arun Sankar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

       By Sameer Yasir and Hari Kumar

       Reporting from New Delhi

       Dec. 1, 2023

       Get it sent to your inbox.

       From the start of the ethnic conflict that turned a state in India’s northeast into a war zone, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to shift the focus from the calamity.

       His lieutenants trumpeted a peace deal with insurgents, though it was unrelated to the ethnic violence. The government resumed development projects as a sign of a return to “normalcy.” And a sympathetic news media kept its gaze fixed elsewhere.

       But in hospital morgues across the state of Manipur lies undeniable evidence that the conflict has yet to be resolved. Dozens of bodies remain unclaimed six months after the fighting started, not because they are unrecognizable, but in part because the region’s security situation is still too volatile.

       The map locates the northeast Indian state of Manipur, and the city of Imphal, it’s capital.

       JAMMU and

       KASHMIR

       CHINA

       BHUTAN

       NEPAL

       New

       Delhi

       Imphal

       MANIPUR

       Kolkata

       INDIA

       MYANMAR

       Bay of Bengal

       500 miles

       By The New York Times

       Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.

       Sameer Yasir is a reporter based in New Delhi. He joined The Times in 2020. More about Sameer Yasir

       Hari Kumar is a reporter in the New Delhi bureau. He joined The Times in 1997. More about Hari Kumar

       A version of this article appears in print on Dec. 3, 2023, Section A , Page 10 of the New York edition with the headline: India’s Morgues Full of Evidence an Ethnic Conflict Is Not Over . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

       Share full article

       Read in app

       Advertisement

       SKIP ADVERTISEMENT