The Manipur government is expected to soon hold peace talks with teams representing the Thadou, Paite, and Hmar communities caught in the ethnic conflict between the non-tribal Meitei and the tribal Kuki-Zomi people since May 2023.
On Monday, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh told the State Assembly that he has welcomed a move by “20-30 Thadou leaders” to visit Imphal for discussions toward coexistence and peace. Similar proposals have come from the Paite and Hmar communities, he said.
Mr. Singh’s statement was in response to an open letter from Thadou Community International (TCI), a new global organisation of the community, asking not to be called by Kuki or any other name. It indicated that the Thadous, the largest Scheduled Tribe community in Manipur, have paid a price during the conflict for being mistakenly identified as Kuki, a British creation.
The Paite and Hmar community have been asserting their identities, reportedly disinclined to being clubbed either as Kuki or Zomi. These terms have been associated more with settlers from Myanmar since the conflict began by the Meiteis and the Nagas, the third major ethnic group of Manipur.
“People who have settled in the State before 1961 are all our brothers and sisters. My colleagues and I are contacting other community leaders to initiate talks. We are trying our best to bring peace at the earliest,” Mr. Singh said.
He said a “few rogue elements” have been behind the conflict. “None of the Thadou, Paite, and Hmar people are involved,” he added.
The Chief Minister underlined the support of the people – the hill inhabited by the Nagas and other tribes and the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley – for lasting peace as the “core issues have already been addressed”.
The TCI had earlier thanked BJP legislator Sapam Kunjakeswor Singh for drawing the Chief Minister’s attention to its plea for reconciliation. “We hope the other MLAs, civil society organisations, distinguished personalities, and the general public of Manipur will join Shri Sapam Kunjakeswor in supporting our concerns,” TCI convenors Kapchungnung Tado and Chongboi Haokip said.
The TCI, however, wants the Manipur government to rein in some radical Meitei groups or bring them on board before the peace talks start for the displaced Thadou people to gradually return to the Imphal Valley. “We are also keen on taking representatives of authoritative Indian and international organisations along for a stronger settlement,” a TCI spokesperson said.
The development has attained significance after Home Minister Amit Shah said on August 1 that the Manipur Chief Minister has invited his Mizoram counterpart Lalduhoma to Imphal to address the ongoing ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo people.
But the 10 Kuki-Zomi MLAs, who have been away from Imphal since the conflict began, have sniffed a ploy to divide the tribes. “Stop playing the divide-and-rule card of Hmar/Thadou. Own up to your mistakes and take sanyas (retirement) from politics,” Paolienlal Haokip, the BJP’s legislator from Saikot said on X.
