Manipur: People’s Alliance for Peace and Progress files FIR against PUCL report on violence

Guwahati: The People’s Alliance for Peace and Progress, Manipur (PAPPM), a voluntary social organisation has filed an FIR against the report of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) on Manipur violence.

The FIR is lodged in a police station in Imphal report alleged Former chief minister N Biren Singh played a partisan role and flagged alleged complicity of state security forces in arming non-state actors and allowing widespread violence to occur unchecked.

PAPPM stated that it is complaint regarding the publication of a biased, defamatory, and inflammatory report by the Independent People's Tribunal (IPT) titled "On the Ongoing Ethnic Conflict in Manipur", released by the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) in August 2025, and request for registration of FIR and initiation of legal proceedings under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Information Technology Act, 2000, and other applicable laws.


The organisation claimed, “Upon careful reading, it is evident that the report is grossly biased against the Meitei community. It lacks objectivity, omits material facts, and distorts events in a manner that maligns one community while shielding and justifying the actions of others. This selective portrayal of incidents and suppression of counter-narratives not only amounts to a misrepresentation of reality but also has the potential to aggravate communal tensions in an already fragile environment. By presenting only one-sided narratives and disregarding well-documented facts, the report paints the Meitei community in an entirely negative light.”

The organisation has accused the report as promotion of enmity and ill-will between different groups. Defamation of the Meitei community without a credible evidentiary basis, Publication of false statements with intent to mislead or influence public opinion., Acts endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India, Criminal conspiracy involving multiple persons in the preparation, editing, and dissemination of the said report.

The Manipur People’s Party (MPP), one of the oldest regional parties, has also filed an FIR at the Imphal police station on Wednesday against the Delhi-based PUCL. The Manipur state unit of the Republican Party of India (Athawale) also filed an FIR with Imphal Police against the PUCL report.

Two Members of Parliament, Leishemba Sanajaoba of the BJP and Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, Inner Manipur MP from the Congress party, also criticized the report, calling it “biased, insensitive, and an attempt to malign the Meitei community.”

The Independent People’s Tribunal on the Ongoing Ethnic Conflict in Manipur, constituted by PUCL in 2024, released its report on August 20, 2025 in New Delhi, in the presence of several jury and expert members.

PUCL had formed the tribunal in response to state-wide violence and alleged failures in constitutional governance.

Former Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph, who chaired the tribunal, asserted that the violence, which erupted on May 3, 2023, was ethnically motivated and exacerbated by systemic failures.

Former chief minister Singh had stated the report serves only to deepen divides and prolong mistrust and it may even promote misunderstanding.

The PUCL in its report recommended the setting up of a special investigating team (SIT) under the Supreme Court's supervision to probe all cases of ethnic violence and the role of the security forces. The SIT should investigate incidents of hate speeches which occurred directly prior to and during the conflict and arrest and prosecute the perpetrators, including political figures and state functionaries, and the state government should provide adequate protection to all the witnesses, the PUCL report said.The PUCL is currently led by rights activist Kavita Srivastava.

Manipur is under President’s rule. At least 258 people have been killed and over a thousand people injured in the ethnic violence in the state between the tribal Kuki-Zo and the non-tribal Meitei people since May 3, 2023. More than 60,000 people have been displaced from their homes and villages, they are staying in relief camps in different districts.

Joint forces recover huge cache of arms, 4 militants held

Four hardcore militants of different outfits were arrested, and a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from three Manipur districts during the past 24 hours, officials said here on Thursday.

A police official said that the large cache of arms and ammunition, including foreign-made weapons, was recovered by the joint forces from three districts - Kangpokpi, Imphal West and Jiribam.

The arms and ammunition recovered include US-made M16 rifle, US-made pistol, Indian-made pistols, .303 rifle, Bolt Action Rifle, Single-Barreled Rifle, 9mm Carbine, Self-Loading Rifles, INSAS rifle, and Improvised projectile launcher (Pumpi).

The ammunition includes M16 Rifle cartridges, a large number of high-explosive grenades, huge quantities of explosives, war-like stores and several radio handsets.

The arrested militants belong to Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) and People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK).

The security forces arrested one V Shiva alias Ishwar Pandey from Moreh (along the India-Myanmar border) for his involvement in extortion from goods transporters, businessmen and other commercial establishments, smuggling and supplying arms to various gangs in Tengnoupal District.

Manipur Police arrested an accused, Nepuni in Senapati district from his residence at Khridziiphi Village, in connection with a case registered for rape and assault at Ngamju village in May. Another accused in connection with the case had been arrested earlier.