Guwahati:
The all-important meeting to find a way out to resolve the 17-plus-month-long ethnic strife in Manipur was held in New Delhi on Tuesday, the Union Home Ministry said in a statement. The meeting was the first of the deliberations convened by the government after the ethnic conflict broke out between the majority Meitei and minority Kuki-Zo communities in Manipur on May 3 last year.
A group of elected members of Manipur Assembly, representing Kuki-Zo-Hmar, Meitei and Naga communities, met to discuss on the current scenario in the northeastern state.
The participants unanimously resolved to appeal to people from all communities to shun the path of violence so that “no more precious lives of innocent citizens are lost”.
The meeting was called by the Intelligence Bureau and was monitored by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Kuki-Zo MLAs who attended the meeting said they represented the people and were their voice. The Kuki-Zo people, they said, wanted a separate administration in the form of UT with legislature. There can’t be talk of peace before this demand is met, they said.
A stament from the Kuki-Zo delegation read, “The Kuki-Zo MLAs also emphasized their full confidence in the leadership of the KNO-UPF and confirmed that they have no additional demands beyond those already presented by the KNO-UPF. They urged that political dialogue with the KNO-UPF leadership should resume at the earliest. Additionally, the MLAs reaffirmed their stance and expressed reluctance to participate in any joint meetings with the Meitei and Naga MLAs. They emphasized any such meetings should only occur after thorough deliberation with the public”.
The conclusions of the four-hour meet, however, were not disclosed to the media.
Among those who attended were Manipur Assembly Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh, MLA Thongam Biswajit, belonging to the Meitei community, and representatives from the Kuki community — Letpao Haokip and Nemcha Kipgen, both ministers.
MLAs Ram Muviah, Awangbow Newmai and L. Dikho represented the Naga community.
Kuki-Zo MLAs who participated in today’s meeting included Haokholet Kipgen, Letpao Haokip, Ngursanglur Sanate and Nemcha Kipgen
The ministry’s northeast affairs advisor, AK Mishra, the BJP’s northeast coordinator and Lok Sabha MP Sambit Patra and other senior officials were also present, sources said.