Manipur peace talks get stonewalled as armed groups want turmoil to go on

A series of recent peacekeeping attempts in Manipur has failed to take off because of pressure from armed miscreants who have “vested interests” in prolonging the violence in the state.

Efforts by government and non-government bodies to broker peace failed to kick-off due to adverse reactions from “armed groups” representing both Kuki and Meitei communities, at least three peaceniks told The Federal.

“Vested-interest groups have hijacked the peace. They are preventing their respective community members and civil society organisations from taking part in peace parleys,” one of them said on condition of anonymity.

‘Warning’ after Shillong peace meet

At the initiative of an NGO, a backroom inter-community meet was organised two months back in Shillong to help with spadework for restoring peace.

Representatives from Meitei, Kuki and Naga communities attended the conclave in the Meghalaya capital.

Once the armed groups of the two warring communities came to know about the initiative, they threatened their community members who attended the parley against making any follow-up move for peace mobilisation, sources privy to the Shillong initiative said. They were also admonished for attending the meeting.

Repercussions of peacekeeping bids

Other past attempts to start a dialogue to resolve the 16-month-long ethnic strife between Meitei and Kuki communities too were nipped in the bud, said a peace initiator.

“Some legislators tried in vain to broker peace through MLA-to-MLA dialogue. A recent Church-led initiative too met the same fate,” he added.

The torching of the residence of Manipur BJP spokesperson Micheal Lamjathang Haokip by unidentified miscreants in Churachandpur district last Saturday was reportedly because of his peace initiative.

Haokip could not be reached for his comment as his mobile was switched off. But he was earlier quoted by the media as saying: “Through the apex bodies of the Thadou community, I have tried to reach out for dialogue and reason with whoever is behind such violence, but to no avail. We believe in justice and non-violence and understand the futility of using violence when (Manipur) has endured enough. We want this violence to be stopped and don’t want the common people to suffer beyond this.”

Not the right time for talks: Naga leader

The present situation in Manipur is not conducive for talks, pointed out BJP MLA Dinganglung Gangmei, a Naga by ethnicity, who was last week named by chief minister Biren Singh as peace emissary.

Gangmei reportedly conveyed to the state government the futility of trying to mediate peace amidst violence, virtually debunking the chief minister’s ambitious claim of restoring peace in the state within six months.

“There are so many armed groups on either side. Unless they are disarmed or at least stopped from interfering, finding a negotiable solution to the current conflict is difficult,” admitted Ashang Kasar, convenor of the Forum for Restoration of Peace, Manipur.

‘Centre must neutralise armed groups’

The forum is jointly floated by Nagas and Pangals (a Muslim ethnic group of the state), two neutral communities in the current conflict.

Kasar said the Centre must play a more proactive role to neutralise the armed groups.

Over 50,000 central forces are deployed in Manipur. But despite such huge deployment, armed groups have a free run both in Meitei and Kuki dominated areas

Under the pretext of providing security to their respective community, these groups are raising huge sums of money through extortion in their areas of influence, said a senior officer attached to the army’s 3 Corps, responsible for helping the state’s civil administration in maintaining law-and-order in Manipur.

Once the armed groups are neutralised, it will not be very difficult to start talks without any pre-condition from either side.

Kuki, Meitis adamant on demands

Kuki groups are insisting that there cannot be any dialogue so long as N Biren Singh remains the chief minister. The Meitei groups are averse to any talks unless the demand for a separate administration by the Kuki community is dropped.

Groups which met in Shillong reportedly stressed the need for two sides to first sit across the table without any pre-condition and then decide on the broader contour of the substantive dialogue.

Issues like dismissal of the Manipur government and granting larger autonomy to the tribals without compromising the state’s territorial integrity could be part of a solution rather than a condition for talks, the army officer said.

Kasar is of the view that granting more autonomy to the tribals and further upgrading Article 371(C) of the Constitution will not be much of a problem during the negotiation process. Ultimately, it is for the Centre to take such a call, he added.

Proposals to governor

The Forum last month told Manipur’s new Governor Lakshman Achariya to constitute a goodwill mission to work “exclusively for early restoration of peace, tranquillity and normalcy”.

The mission should include at least one representative from each of the state’s 35 tribes and a few nominees (five to seven) of the state government, the forum told the governor while submitting eight proposals.