A one-mile stretch of a highway in the lush green foothills of India's Manipur state has become the symbol of a vicious sectarian conflict that has killed hundreds of people and forcing thousands to flee their homes since the violence erupted on May 3. The inability to stop the conflict, which resembles a civil war has severely dented the strongman image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The bitter fighting between the majority Meitei community and the Kuki tribals is in the remote northeast of the country erupted after the state high court ordered the government to consider extending economic benefits reserved for the Kuki tribals to the Meiteis. Street protests spiraled into armed conflict and now, rival gunmen have dug into bunkers and outposts along the highway and in other places in Manipur, and regularly fire at each other with assault weapons, sniper rifles and pistols.