Manipur violence: MLAs of Meitei, Kuki, Naga meet in Delhi to find solutions (Lead)

Imphal, Oct 15 (IANS) The all-important meeting to find a way out to resolve the over 17-month-long ethnic strife in Manipur was held in New Delhi on Tuesday, sources said.

After the crucial meeting, an official statement said that a group of elected members of the Manipur Assembly, representing Kuki-Zo-Hmar, Meitei and Naga communities, met in New Delhi on Tuesday to discuss the current scenario in the state.

“The meeting unanimously resolved to appeal to the people of the State belonging to all communities to shun the path of violence so that no more precious lives of innocent citizens are lost,” the statement said.

Sources said that Ministers and MLAs belonging to the Meitei, Kuki and Naga communities attended the meeting called by the Intelligence Bureau under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

"Several rounds of meetings between the MHA officials and the elected representatives, civil societies and NGOs would be held in the upcoming weeks to find out a lasting solution to the ethnic crisis in Manipur," the sources said.

After around a four-hour-long meeting, neither the officials nor the ministers and MLAs talked to the media to disclose the outcome of the meeting.

A Kuki community leader in Manipur said that the Kuki MLAs told the meeting that they were representing the people and voicing what the people wanted.

“The Kuki-Zo people wanted a separate administration in the form of a Union Territory with the legislature. There can't be talk of peace before this demand is met. They said they could not participate in a joint meeting with the Meitei and Naga. If at all there is a need to sit together with the Meitei and Naga, they would have to first consult various Kuki-Zo Civil Society Organisations,” the leader said, refusing to be named.

After the meeting in Delhi, the Kuki MLAs in a joint statement said that they only met MHA officials and did not participate in the joint meeting involving the Meiteis and the Naga MLAs.

"We are representing the Kuki-Zo people, the people wanted a separate administration like the Union Territory with the legislature. Peace talk would be meaningless if our political demands were not met. In case there is a need to sit with the Meitei and the Nagas in the future, we would only do so after consulting the Kuki-Zo Civil Society Organisations," the joint statement said.

Manipur Assembly Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh, MLA Thongam Biswajit, belonging to the Meitei community, and four MLAs from the Kuki community, including Letpao Haokip and Nemcha Kipgen, both ministers, attended the meeting.

MLAs Ram Muviah, Awangbow Newmai and L. Dikho attended the meeting from the Naga community.

However, sources told IANS that several ministers and legislators from the three communities -- Meitei, Kuki and Naga -- attended the meeting and raised their demands and viewpoints over the ethnic riot.

An MLA, belonging to the Kuki community, on condition of anonymity said that they would discuss the matters of Tuesday’s meeting with their community leaders and functionaries then they would disclose their next course of action.

“Because the meeting was called by the Central government, that’s why they attended the meeting. We do not have any faith in the Manipur state government,” the legislator told IANS over the phone from New Delhi.

He said that MHA’s advisor, North East Affairs, A. K. Mishra, Intelligence Bureau’s Joint Director Anil Kumble and other senior officials and BJP’s North-East India Coordinator Sambit Patra, the saffron party’s Manipur in-charge Ajit Khupchand were present at the meeting.

Tuesday’s meeting was the first 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.

The vital meeting was held on Tuesday after Home Minister Amit Shah last month indicated to resolve the ethnic imbroglio in Manipur through discussions between the Meiteis and Kukis.

On June 17, the Home Minister during a review meeting on the law and order situation in Manipur gave similar indications.

Meanwhile, 10 MLAs, including seven BJP legislators, and several Kuki-Zo organisations including Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) and Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) since the ethnic violence started in Manipur in May last year, have been demanding separate administrations or a Union Territory for the Kuki-Zo tribals in Manipur.

The 10 legislators included Letpao Haokip and Nemcha Kipgen, who are ministers in Chief Minister N. Biren Singh-led 12-member ministry in Manipur.

The state and the Central governments have on a number of occasions rejected the demand for separate administrations or a Union Territory.

The ethnic violence between the non-tribals Meiteis and tribal Kuki-Zo broke out in the northeastern state on May 3 last year after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

So far, over 230 people have been killed in the strife. As many as 11,133 houses have been set on fire, out of which 4,569 homes have been completely destroyed. A total of 11,892 cases have been registered in different police stations in connection with the ethnic violence.

The state government has established 302 relief camps to provide shelter to 59,414 internally displaced persons.

--IANS

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