The Centre on Saturday held a meeting with representatives of Manipur’s antagonistic Meitei and Kuki communities, in an effort to bring a lasting peace in the restive state.
Sources said the meeting was held as part of the central government’s initiatives to find an amicable solution to the ongoing conflict between the two communities, which began on May 2023.
The meeting was aimed at enhancing trust and cooperation between the Meiteis and Kukis and finding a roadmap to restore peace and normalcy in Manipur, sources said. The discussions also stressed on maintaining law and order and facilitating reconciliation between the two communities, they said. A six-member Meitei delegation comprising representatives from the All Manipur United Clubs’ Organisation (AMUCO) and the Federation of Civil Society Organisations (FOCS) attended the meeting. The Kuki delegation comprised nine-odd representatives.
The central government interlocutors included A K Mishra, a retired special director of the Intelligence Bureau.
During a debate on Manipur in Lok Sabha on Thursday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the Ministry of Home Affairs had held discussions with the representatives of the Meitei and the Kuki communities in the past.
He said separate meetings were also conducted with different organisations from both the communities.
“The Ministry of Home Affairs will soon convene their joint meeting,” Shah said, replying to a short debate in the Lower House, which adopted a Statutory Resolution confirming the imposition of President’s rule in Manipur.
The Home Minister also said that the government is working to find a way to end the violence, with its top priority being restoration of peace in the northeastern state. Shah said the situation in Manipur is by and large under control as there has been no death in the last four months but it can’t be considered satisfactory as the displaced people are still living in relief camps.
President’s rule in Manipur was imposed on February 13 after the then chief minister N Biren Singh resigned on February 9. The State Assembly, which has a tenure till 2027, has been put under suspended animation. Around 260 people have lost their lives since ethnic violence broke out between the Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and neighbouring hills-based Kukis in May 2023. Several thousand firearms were looted from different police stations across Manipur during the initial phase of the conflict.
Ajay Kumar Bhalla, who took charge as Governor on January 3, has since been meeting a cross-section of people and taking feedback from them on how to bring back normalcy in the State.
Bhalla, a former Union home secretary, who had closely worked with Shah for five years till August 2024, was handpicked by the minister and is said to have been tasked with restoring peace in the restive State.
After the imposition of President’s rule, the Governor had taken a number of steps to restore peace, including asking those who looted arms from security forces to surrender them.
The central government also endeavoured to open the State’s roads for normal traffic, though it did not fructify due to opposition from Kukis.
Travel through areas inhabited by Meiteis or Kukis is completely prohibited for the other community. While Kukis travel mostly through Mizoram to go outside the state, the Meiteis do not go to the hills dominated by the Kukis.
The violence in Manipur began after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ organised in the hill districts to protest against an order of the Manipur High Court on the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.
