Land Rights and Conflict in Manipur: A Critical Analysis

For many years, Manipur has been in the throes of ethnic conflicts and violence. All these ethnic conflicts in one way or another related to disputes over land and resources. The hill areas- mainly dominated by the tribal communities and the valley areas- mostly dominated by the non-tribal have distinct land use and management systems. Each system has its own enforcement mechanism as well as codification of rules and norms. This diversity in property rights is considered by many social scientists as the main cause of conflict among different ethnic communities in the state. Ethnic conflicts in the state are not only rooted on the existing differences in land use and management between the hill and valley areas, but it is also a fall out of the systematic political manipulation by the politically dominant valley people to alienate tribals‟ land.