Churachandpur, Aug. 12 -- The barren paddy fields stretching between the valley and the hills of Manipur stand as silent witnesses to the deep scars left by the ethnic violence that erupted on May 3, 2023.

Once a shared space where both Kuki and Meitei farmers cultivated paddy side by side, these fields now lie abandoned. The miles-long buffer zone, carved out in the aftermath of the conflict, has turned fertile farmland into no-man's land, off-limits due to constant security fears. In Chingphei village, Ngulsang, a farmer, like many others in the region, is living in quiet distress. For over two years, he has been unable to return to his land, his source of livelihood lost to a conflict that refuses to fade.

Ngulsang said, "Most of the...