New Delhi. The caste violence that has been going on for 16 months in Manipur seems to be coming to an end. Amidst the renewed violence in the state, on October 15, the Kuki and Meitei communities are going to sit face to face for talks for the first time. This meeting has been organized by the Home Ministry in New Delhi. Leaders and MLAs of both the communities will be involved so that a solution to the violence can be found peacefully.
The meeting will be attended by Meite community leader Thongam Biswajit, Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata, Thounaojam Basantkumar, Khongbantbam Ibomcha, Dr. Sapam Ranjan, Thokchom Radheshyam and Tongbram Robindro. The leaders of the Kuki community will be Letpao Haokip, Paolienlal Haokip, Haokholet Kipgen. Naga MLAs and ministers Awangbo Newmai, L Dikho and Ram Muivah will also be present in this discussion. Till now, senior leaders of both the communities, especially MLAs, had avoided meeting each other and holding peace talks.
It is noteworthy that caste violence started in Manipur on May 3, 2023. 16 months have passed since then. During this period, 226 people have died, while more than 1100 people have been injured. More than 60 thousand people have left their homes, a large number of whom are living in refugee camps. However, before the meeting in Delhi, the Kuki and Meitei groups had signed a peace agreement in Jiribam, Manipur in August. In this agreement, it was decided that both sides would cooperate with the security forces to prevent incidents of arson and firing in Jiribam and work towards normalizing the situation. However, no such peace could be restored.