ISLAMABAD: A blast at Manipur University and protests over a planned census have renewed focus on instability in Manipur, where displacement, ethnic tensions and insecurity continue despite official claims of normalcy.
A bomb explosion at Manipur University on Sunday evening was a fresh sign that the conflict-hit state is still far from normal, despite repeated official claims of stability, the Times of India reported.
According to local media reports, the blast took place near staff quarters on the Canchipur campus, damaging property and causing panic. No casualties were reported, but university officials described it as an attack on “education, peace, and harmony.”
The blast came as opposition grows to the government’s plan to go ahead with the national census. Thousands of internally displaced persons and the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee have urged authorities to delay the exercise until people forced from their homes by the violence are properly resettled. Critics say a census held now would distort population data and affect future political representation and development planning.
The dispute points to the deeper crisis in Manipur. As The Economist recently noted, "the state is still shaped by the ethnic violence that broke out in May 2023" between the largely Hindu Meiteis and the mainly Christian Kukis. The conflict is rooted in long-running tensions over identity, rights and resources, and it has left hundreds dead and thousands of homes destroyed.
Those figures broadly match international reporting. When New Delhi imposed President’s Rule in February 2025, Reuters reported that at least 250 people had been killed and around 60,000 displaced. Yet even after such large-scale loss and displacement, both the state and central governments have continued to project an image of recovery and communal harmony.
For residents of Manipur, the issue is no longer only the violence that erupted in 2023, but the unresolved fallout that continues to shape daily life. The blast at Manipur University and the objections to holding a census before rehabilitation show that security, displacement and political trust remain deeply contested.
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