PTI, NEW DELHI, APRIL 6, 2025 : For the first time since ethnic violence started in Manipur nearly two years ago, the representatives of the warring Meitei and Kuki communities met face-to-face on Saturday as the Centre intensified efforts to restore peace and bring back normalcy in the North-Eastern state.
The meeting, which was held here under the aegis of the Union Home Ministry, discussed various aspects of the ongoing conflict and decided to continue their dialogue to find an amicable solution acceptable to the people of the state, sources privy to the meeting said. The sources said the meeting, which lasted for about five hours, was held as part of the Union government’s initiatives to resolve the ongoing conflict between the two communities, which began in May 2023 and had worsened ethnic tensions.
The meeting was aimed at enhancing trust and cooperation between the Meiteis and Kukis and finding a roadmap to restore peace and normalcy in Manipur, the sources said. The discussions also stressed maintaining law and order and facilitating reconciliation between the two communities, they added.
A six-member Meitei delegation, comprising representatives from the All Manipur United Clubs’ Organisation (AMUCO) and the Federation of Civil Society Organisations (FOCS), attended the meeting. The Kuki delegation comprised about nine representatives from the Kuki-Zo Council. The Centre’s government interlocutor, A.K. Mishra, a retired special director of the Intelligence Bureau, and the chief secretary of Manipur, Prashant Kumar Singh, attended the meeting.
This was the first direct meeting between the representatives of the two communities, the sources said. A meeting of Kuki-Zo, Meitei, and Naga MLAs organized by the Union Home Ministry in October 2024 did not materialize, as the legislators from the warring communities refused to sit in the same room. At that time, they met with the Centre’s interlocutors separately, even though the back-to-back meetings were held at the same venue in the national capital.
During a debate on Manipur in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the Ministry of Home Affairs had held 13 meetings with the representatives of the Meitei and Kuki communities in the past. “The Ministry of Home Affairs will soon convene a joint meeting,” Shah had said, replying to a short debate in the lower House, which adopted a Statutory Resolution confirming the imposition of President’s Rule in Manipur.
The Home Minister also said that while the government is working to find a path to end the violence, the top priority is to establish peace. Shah said the situation in Manipur is largely under control, as there has been no death in the last four months, but it can’t be considered satisfactory as the displaced people are still living in relief camps.
Shah said both communities should understand that dialogue is the only way forward and that the central government was not in favor of continuing President’s Rule in the state even for a single day. President’s Rule in Manipur was imposed on February 13 after the then-Chief Minister N. Biren Singh resigned on February 9. The state assembly, which has a tenure until 2027, has been put under suspended animation.
About 260 people have lost their lives ever since the ethnic violence broke out between the Imphal valley-based Meitei and neighboring hills-based Kuki communities in May 2023.
