Imphal: A. K. Mishra, the Government of India’s interlocutor for peace talks with the Kuki militant groups in Manipur, has appealed to the people especially the Kuki-Zo community to maintain a peaceful environment for any political solution to the seven-month-long prevailing crisis in this strife-torn state.
Mishra made the appeal to the representatives of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) during a meeting at Manipur’s Churachandpur district headquarters on Thursday.
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The meeting was also attended among others from the Ministry of Home Affairs, government of India which is represented by Joint Director IB (NE) Dr. Mandeep Singh Tuli and SoO interlocutor AK Mishra.
The interlocutor requested the apex Kuki-Zo tribal body to pursue their political demand through democratic processes and also stressed how the central government wants a solution to occur.
He said that certain elements are affected in the process and such elements need to be properly handled and dealt with.
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He appealed to the tribal body to put their trust in the government and to abstain from violent means but rather follow the democratic means of protests in their demand for a separate administration.
Further, he also appealed to the tribal body to surrender the arms looted within the district of Churachandpur in the ongoing communal violence between the Kukis and Meiteis that started on May 3, 2023, the epicenter being the Churachandpur district in Manipur.
During the meeting, the interlocutor also highlighted the Suspension of Operations (SoO) group’s pending demands awaiting the government’s approval.
In Manipur, there are around 30 Kuki insurgent groups. Of these 25 outfits engaged in a tripartite SoO with the Government of India. Among them, 17 fall under the Kuki National Organisation (KNO), and 8 are part of the United People’s Front (UPF). The SoO pact was initiated on August 22, 2008, with an aim to facilitate political dialogue.