10 Manipur Kuki-Zo MLAs urge Govt for peace roadmap amid President’s rule
GUWAHATI: The government should lay out a comprehensive political roadmap for peace and justice in Manipur, said 10 Kuki-Zo-Hmar member of the legislative assembly (MLAs) on Sunday, days after President’s rule was imposed following chief minister N Biren Singh’s resignation on February 9, as the ruling BJP failed to find a successor.
The Centre imposed President’s rule on Thursday, placing the state assembly in suspended animation. The move was opposed by Meitei organisations based in Imphal Valley while Kuki-Zo groups termed it as a necessary intervention which was long overdue.
“We, the 10 MLAs of Manipur, while acknowledging the Centre’s decision to place the assembly under suspended animation express hope that the Government of India would lay out a comprehensive political roadmap for peace and justice under a negotiated settlement,” read a statement issued by the legislators, which was accessed by HT.
The ethnic violence between the Meiteis, who are a majority in Imphal Valley, and the Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities who are predominant in several hill districts have claimed at least 260 lives and displaced around 60,000 persons from both sides in the past 21 months.
Since the outbreak of violence in May 2023, the 10 legislators — seven from the BJP, two from Kuki Peoples Alliance (KPA) and one Independent — have been demanding a separate administration for the areas in Manipur where people from the Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities are predominant.
“We also look forward to time-bound measures to end the sufferings that the conflict affected, and internally displaced people continue to undergo,” the release added.
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