How Sports Are Uniting Manipur's Youth and Healing Ethnic Divisions

While communities may remain fractured off the field, on the field, there are no lines of separation. On football grounds, boxing rings, and athletics tracks, Meetei, Kuki, Naga, Meitei Pangal (Muslim), Tangkhul, Rongmei, and others train shoulder to shoulder, united by a shared ambition to represent Manipur and India.

Coaches and sportspersons believe that sports hold a rare power in times of conflict, the power to rebuild trust.

Even during the most tense periods of unrest, local tournaments in parts of the state continued quietly. Young players who might otherwise have been consumed by fear or frustration found purpose in preparation and discipline.

For many of them, sport became therapy, a way to channel anger into endurance, anxiety into focus.

As the situation gradually stabilises and tensions reduce, there has been a noticeable rise in youth participation in sports. Grounds that once stood silent are seeing renewed energy. Coaches say the momentum is high, and young people are increasingly viewing sports not just as recreation but as a career and a path toward a disciplined life.

One powerful example of this larger spirit of unity can be seen at the Sarita Boxing Academy in Mayang Imphal, founded by Olympian and Arjuna Awardee Laishram Sarita Devi.

The academy currently houses around 103 students from various communities across the hills and valleys. They live and train together, sharing dormitories, meals and dreams.

"In sports, there is no difference of caste, religion, community or colour," Sarita says. "I train all my students equally. We don't need to see such things in sports. We are working hard to make our country proud."

Significantly, Sarita recalled that before the outbreak of violence in Manipur, Kuki students were also part of the academy, training alongside others without any distinction.

"Earlier, before this violence, Kuki students were also here. We never saw any difference among the children," she said, underlining how sports spaces once reflected the harmony that many now hope to restore.

She believes that the tension which once deeply affected the youth is gradually easing. "Now many young people are joining sports. I always advise my students to stay united among themselves," she added.

The academy has recently expanded beyond boxing. An artificial football turf has been opened, and around 20 young footballers are now training regularly. Plans are underway to develop natural grounds and introduce more sporting disciplines in the future.

Chongtham Thoiba, a football player and Secretary of the academy, believes sports can succeed where other efforts sometimes struggle.

"In other fields, there may be differences. But in sports, there are none," he said. "Sports have the power to bring all people together. We are trying our best to unite communities through this academy and help these children achieve their dreams."

Interestingly, many of the young footballers initially joined to learn boxing. Their natural talent in football prompted the formal launch of the football programme, a move that reflects the academy's broader mission to nurture talent and unity together.

Students at the academy speak not just about training, but about togetherness. They describe friendships that cut across community lines and a daily routine built on discipline and mutual respect.

Sarita has a clear message for the youth of Manipur: Stay away from drugs and destructive paths. "Don't waste your time. Get involved in sports. Sports can give you a good career and a disciplined life," she said.

Sarita Boxing Academy is only one chapter in a larger story unfolding across Manipur, a story where sports grounds are becoming neutral spaces of healing.

In a region struggling to rebuild trust, sports is quietly doing what it does best: creating teams out of individuals, forging bonds through shared struggle, and teaching young minds that victory is sweeter when achieved together.

- ANI