To Broker Peace In Violence-Hit Manipur, Centre Takes Backchannel Route

After several ethnic groups boycotted the governor-led Peace Committee in Manipur, the centre is holding backchannel talks with the Kuki and Meitei communities to try and achieve a semblance of normalcy in the violence-hit state. 

Officials from the Union Home Ministry said this strategy has led to some success, notably by ensuring that the blockade of National Highway 2 by Kuki groups was lifted on Sunday. They are now hoping for reciprocation from the Meitei community. 

"The Centre has been holding backchannel talks with various groups of both communities and this has been giving us desired results," a senior home ministry official said. 

What remains a major concern for the authorities, however, is that only a third of the 5,000 weapons, which have been looted from armouries since the violence began on May 3, have been returned. 

The official said the centre has been leveraging the narrow common ground between the communities to try and negotiate peace. "Some violence and skirmishes are being reported from the foothills and the hilly regions, but it has been decided to create buffer zones between these areas. Some such zones have been created along the foothills in sensitive areas, and adequate forces have also been deployed," he said.

The official added that the centre is deploying forces sector-wise and demarcating areas to speed up communication and redressal of issues. As many as 114 companies of the Central Armed Police Force are deployed in various sectors of Manipur and the same number of columns of the Army and Assam Rifles are also patrolling various districts.

The decision to lift the roadblocks from National Highways 2 was announced on Sunday by a 19-member team comprising Kuki-Zo civil society organisations and representatives of the United People's Front and the Kuki National Organisation - the umbrella group of 24 Kuki insurgent groups which are part of the Suspension of Operations pact with the government.

"There were meetings between these groups and senior Bharatiya Janata Party functionaries in Assam's Kaziranga on June 30," the home ministry official said. 

A recent Assam Rifles report indicates that the accounting of both cadre and weapons in camps where insurgent groups have been stationed is almost complete. "The exercise is almost complete and, largely, weapons and men in these camps are also accounted for," said an official in Manipur. 

The issue of looted weapons is, however, still a big concern for both the state government and the centre. As many as 5,000 weapons were looted from police armouries, but only a third of them have found their way back.

The police are also probing complaints about the complicity of state officials with protesting groups. "Some commandos were also part of a group of rioters. They have been identified and action will be taken against them," the home ministry official said. 

The Manipur government announced yesterday that it has decided to dismantle all bunkers built by the Meitei and Kuki communities and that schools for classes 1 to 8 will reopen in the state tomorrow. 

Nearly 120 people have lost their lives and over 3,000 have been injured in the violence in Manipur, which began on May 3 when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status.