The Manipur Congress on Tuesday expressed support for the talks held between Meitei and Kuki legislators in Delhi, aimed at resolving the ongoing ethnic crisis in the northeastern state. However, the party criticized the Ministry of Home Affairs for not initiating the discussions earlier, stating that many lives could have been saved.
They added that the absence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and state Chief Minister N Biren Singh rendered the meeting "incomplete."
State Congress President K Meghachandra said the absence of Chief Minister N Biren Singh and Union Home Minister Amit Shah from the talks, held 17 months after ethnic violence first erupted, weakened the meeting’s significance.
“We appreciate the dialogue and are hopeful it will restore peace and normalcy. But the meeting should have been convened earlier to prevent the loss of precious lives,” Meghachandra said.
Since the violence broke out on May 3 last year, over 220 people, including Meitei and Kuki community members as well as security personnel, have been killed. Meghachandra further said that the meeting would have been more impactful had opposition members and civil society organizations also been invited. “From the current state of things, it appears to have been limited to government legislators,” he added.
The talks saw the participation of Meitei legislators, including Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh, Tongbram Robindro, and Th Basantakumar Singh, alongside Kuki MLAs Letpao Haokip and Nemcha Kipgen. Naga MLAs Ram Muivah, Awangbow Newmai, and L Dikho were also present, according to sources.
Meghachandra criticized the absence of key political figures, claiming it impacted the meeting's effectiveness. “Biren Singh, as the head of the state and home minister, should have been there. The absence of Amit Shah reflects negligence and renders the meeting incomplete,” he remarked.
Kuki legislator Paolienlal Haokip, who was not invited to the talks, welcomed the initiative but highlighted that the crisis is political and requires a political solution. “It’s not just a local conflict between villages. We’ve reached a point where ethnic cleansing has taken place, and countless lives have been lost,” said Haokip, a vocal advocate for Kuki rights.
Meanwhile, the United People’s Front (UPF), a Kuki militant group that signed the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with the Central and state governments, raised the demand for a separate administration for Manipur's tribal communities. In a statement, the UPF emphasized the need for constitutional safeguards to protect their identity, culture, and resources.
The SoO pact, first signed in 2008, involves the Centre, the Manipur government, and two Kuki militant conglomerates – the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and the UPF – and has been periodically renewed since.
