12 hours ago
Team from three Manipur groups to meet MHA officials for conflict resolution
A 19-member delegation from three Meitei-led groups in Manipur is scheduled to meet the officials in Delhi on Monday (June 30, 2025) to resolve a long-drawn ethnic conflict. These groups are the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity, All Manipur United Clubs' Organisation, and Federation of Civil Society Organisations.
A member of one of these organisations said the discussion would focus on four issues: territorial integrity of Manipur, opening of two arterial highways, resettlement and rehabilitation of the internally displaced people, and security for farmers living and working on the periphery of the Imphal Valley. 'Non-Meitei members are part of the delegation,' he said.
Manipur has been in turmoil since May 3, 2023, when the ethnic conflict between the non-tribal Meitei people and the tribal Kuki-Zo communities broke out. The conflict left more than 250 people dead and some 60,000 displaced.
The scale of violence has come down over the past few months, but tension prevails, specifically along the 'buffer zone', a strip separating the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley from the surrounding foothills where the Kuki-Zo people are in the majority.
The issue of territorial integrity refers to the demand of some Kuki-Zo groups for the creation of a 'separate administration.' The Meiteis continue to be 'barred' from using the National Highway-2 and National Highway-37, which connect the Imphal Valley to the rest of the country through areas controlled by the Kuki-Zo people.
Farmers in the valley operating in their fields close to the 'buffer zone' have occasionally come under fire from armed groups in the hills. In the latest incident on June 19, a Meitei farmer was killed in the Phubala area of the Bishnupur district adjoining Churachandpur.
