Mizoram Chief Minister May Visit Manipur To Meet Counterpart Biren Singh For Solving Ethnic Crisis

Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma may soon visit Imphal to meet his Manipur counterpart N Biren Singh to address the ongoing ethnic violence between the Meiteis and Kuki-Zo communities, an official statement said on Friday.

The statement, however, did not clarify whether Lalduhoma would mediate discussions between Meitei and Kuki-Zo organisations.

During a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on August 1, Lalduhoma mentioned that Singh had invited him to Imphal and expressed his willingness to comply with the request.

"I was invited by Manipur CM Biren Singh to visit Imphal. I want to respond and comply with his request," Laldhuoma was quoted as telling Shah in the statement.

Sources said Singh made the invitation during a meeting with Lalduhoma on the sidelines of the NITI Aayog meeting in New Delhi on July 28.

During the meeting with Shah, Lalduhoma suggested facilitating a dialogue between the Home Ministry and the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), a tribal organisation representing the Kuki-Zo community, to resolve the conflict, the statement added.

On Monday, various ethnic-based groups representing the Kuki-Hmar-Mizo-Zomi communities formed a political platform called the 'Kuki-Zo Council' to represent their interests in future talks with the Centre. The council's full committee and statement of purpose are expected to be finalised on August 7, sources said.

The Kuki-Zo organisations, along with 10 Kuki MLAs and Kuki insurgent groups, currently under the suspension of operations (SoO) pact with the Centre and Manipur government, have demanded a separate Union Territory with legislature, similar to Pondicherry, as a solution to the conflict.

Meitei organisations, however, have rejected this proposal and instead call for an Assam-type National Register of Citizens (NRC) to identify "illegal migrants" from the Kuki-Zo communities.

The Manipur Chief Minister told the Assembly recently that the ethnic violence has resulted in 226 deaths since May 2023, with 39 people still missing and over 59,000 displaced in relief camps. The conflict has also led to the destruction of 11,133 houses and damage to 4,569 others, he added.