Desk Correspondent , Imphal - Normal life in the hill districts of violence-hit Manipur came to a grinding half as the United Naga Council (UNC) launched indefinite inter-district economic blockade along major national highways, including Imphal-Moreh, Imphal-Silchar, and Imphal-Dimapur. The apex Naga body initiated the stir following the state government's failure to rescue six remaining Naga hostages, including two pastors, from the custody of Kuki groups. The crisis escalated after a twin ambush on May 13 left three Kuki church leaders and one Naga man dead, leading to retaliatory abductions where conflicting reports estimate between 38 and 48 people from both communities are being held hostage.

In response to the deteriorating situation, two separate 10-member church delegations visited the affected Kangpokpi and Senapati districts to volunteer as peace brokers between the Kuki and Naga communities. Chief Minister Khemchand Singh, whose newly formed government includes representatives from all three major ethnic groups to maintain balance following a year of President’s Rule, lauded the church leaders' initiative. Concurrently, the Kuki Zo Council submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding a federal National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the killings, deployment of security forces, and a separate administration.

This fresh hostage crisis is the latest flashpoint in the protracted ethnic conflict that began in May 2023 between the valley-dominant Meiteis and the hill-dwelling Kuki-Zo communities. The violence has claimed at least 260 lives and displaced over 60,000 people, gradually drawing in almost every community in the state. While the Chief Minister maintains that no official buffer zones divide the communities, the enforcement of this blockade threatens to entirely sever vital supply lines for essential commodities across the sensitive, ethnically polarized state.