The violence, which has erupted between the Imphal Valley-based Meitei community and the hill-dwelling Kuki-Zo groups since May last year, has led to more than 200 fatalities…reports Asian Lite News
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh informed the state Assembly on Monday that a total of 59,564 people have been displaced and 11,133 houses destroyed in fires due to ongoing violence in the region.
Responding to a question from Congress MLA K Ranjit, Singh stated that the state government has initiated relief efforts, including financial assistance under the ‘One Family One Lakh’ scheme. As part of this scheme, an initial installment of ₹25,000 has been deposited into the bank accounts of 2,792 individuals affected by the violence.
Specifically, the funds were transferred to 2,156 bank accounts in Kangpokpi district and 512 in Bishnupur district. The chief minister assured that the remaining eligible beneficiaries would receive their payments soon.
Singh emphasized that the current priority is to provide aid to those whose homes were completely gutted by fire. He acknowledged that some delays in the distribution of funds were due to land ownership disputes.
The violence, which has erupted between the Imphal Valley-based Meitei community and the hill-dwelling Kuki-Zo groups since May last year, has led to more than 200 fatalities and left thousands without shelter. The government continues to work on providing relief and addressing the complex issues arising from the ethnic conflict.
Chief Minister Biren Singh earlier said that Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma has not been appointed as an “interlocutor” for peace talks in the wake of the ethnic violence in the state.
The Chief Minister told the Manipur assembly that the reports in a section of the media and social media were not true and that the Mizoram Chief Minister would mediate in the Manipur ethnic crisis and the peace talks.
Singh said that on the sideline of the NITI Aayog meeting in New Delhi on July 27, he met with Assam Chief Minister (Himanta Biswa Sarma), Nagaland Chief Minister (Neiphiu Rio) and Mizoram Chief Minister and held casual interactions on a few issues on the northeastern states.
“During the casual interaction with the Mizoram Chief Minister, I had requested him to visit Manipur. These casual conversations were interpreted otherwise and blown out of proportion with many saying Lalduhoma has been appointed as interlocutor,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that the Prime Minister’s Office or the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has the authority to appoint an interlocutor for a certain purpose.
So far no such steps have been taken or discussed, he told the house.
An official of Mizoram Chief Minister’s Office earlier said that Lalduhoma held a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in his residence in New Delhi on August 1 and urged him to hold talks with the tribal leaders of Manipur, as part of the efforts to resolve the ethnic crisis prevailing in the neighbouring state.
Due to the ethnic, cultural and traditional similarities between Manipur’s Kuki-Zo-Hmar tribes with the Mizos of Mizoram, the tribal leaders of Manipur held meetings on several occasions in Aizawl with the incumbent Chief Minister Lalduhoma and former Chief Minister Zoramthanga, when he was in office, and discussed the ethnic violence and the tribals’ sufferings in the neighbouring country.
ALSO READ: India releases new Haj policy, adjusts quota
