Manipur violence

After a standoff with police, India’s opposition leader Rahul Gandhi reached the north-eastern state of Manipur on Friday to meet victims of violence that has raged there for the last few months. Since early May, Manipur has seen violent clashes between the Meitei (primarily Hindu) and Kuki (primarily Christian) communities, displacing over 6,000 and killing at least 100. Narendra Modi, the Indian PM, has yet to visit the state although he has sent his chief enforcer, Amit Shah, in a so-far vain effort to restore order. The clashes began when the majority Meiteis demanded tribal status, which would give them access to forest land as well as quotas for government jobs and education. The 40,000 security personnel deployed have been accused by both sides of being partisan.