The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a key Meitei civil society organization, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently met on Friday. According to remarks made by the group, Shah urged COCOMI to start a conversation with respectable Kuki officials aimed at promoting peace. At the same time, a group of 10 lawmakers from Manipur’s Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities expressed their frustration with Chief Minister N. Biren Singh for their lack of communication since the start of the state’s unrest on May 3. Nemcha Kipgen, the minister of textiles and commerce, informed the speaker of Manipur that she had received advice from security professionals not to attend the session scheduled for August 29 because of the “volatile law and order situation in Imphal.”
According to Khuarijam Athouba, a COCOMI spokesperson, no decision has been made about Amit Shah’s request. He added that after consulting their Manipur people, they would only interact with “legitimate Kuki leaders.” Mr. Athouba emphasized that they would not work together with those who had emigrated from Myanmar. Over 4,000 guns have been stolen from police armories since May 3. As a result of ethnic conflict between the Kuki and Meitei populations in Manipur. Due to their alleged bias, the Meitei group has asked that the Assam Rifles (AR) leave Manipur.
BJP and other Kuki-Zo MLAs expressed suspicion about the Chief Minister’s assertions concerning communication, speculating that they might be an effort to foment distrust and division between the MLAs and their constituents. The tribal Kuki-Zo group had been in contact with Chief Minister Singh, who assured them of protection so they could attend the upcoming Assembly session. All parties involved are urgently concerned about the region’s route to peace and reconciliation as COCOMI responds favorably to Amit Shah’s appeal for discussion and tensions linger in Manipur.