New Delhi: Manipur’s Meitei and Kuki communities who were at the centre of the ethnic violence that hit the state more than 2 years back, welcomed PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the state on Sunday. However leaders and people from both communities stressed that any peace talks between them must be led by the government.
Government-led talks with all stakeholders only way to bring peace: Locals
The local people of the state and leaders from both the communities stressed upon the fact that only government-led talks with all stakeholders in the conflict-ridden state could bring about peace.
The conflict in Manipur has left more than 200 people dead and displaced more than 60,000 people.
A leader of the Meitei community who heads an organization called, Committee on Protection of Meetei Victims’ Moreh, Leishangthem Inaocha, was quoted by the Times of India as saying, “The PM appealed to bridge the gap between the hills and the valley, when it should be the duty of the government to step in and make dialogue possible so that the gap can be bridged.”
According to the Meitei leader, several displaced families were hoping for reconciliation after PM Modi’s visit to the state.
Meanwhile the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) and Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, also welcomed the PM’s visit to the state, terming it “historic”. But they were also critical about the PM’s speech. A spokesperson of the party claimed that the PM had “ignored the sufferings of the Kuki community” in his speech during the rally. Ginza Vualzong, the spokesperson for the group said, “Our issue needs a political solution. If he (PM) thinks that he can buy us off with a development package, he is very wrong.”
The Kukis have alleged that the development package worth Rs 3,700 crore unveiled by the PM, gave only Rs 23 crore to Churachandpur and completely ignored other Kuki-Zo districts like Kangpokpi and Pherzawl.
Several important roads that pass through Manipur have in itself become conflict fault lines. A prime example of this being the NH-2. The Meitei residents hardly travel into Kuki-dominated areas and the Kukis seldom enter the Imphal valley. Vualzong claimed that PM Modi’s visit to Churachandpur did recognise the physical partition between the Meiteis and Kuki-Zo tribals in the state. Though even he agreed that the PM visit was an act of solidarity in a deeply divided state.