After a year of violence back home, city Manipuris march for peace
Times of India | 4 May 2024
Kolkata: Manipur continues to endure an unprecedented turmoil that had started a year ago. The violence that broke out on May 3 last year has claimed at least 223 lives and left thousands homeless. On Friday, Manipuris living in Kolkata organized a candle-light meet demanding the restoration of normalcy and peaceful co-existence of all communities back home.
The conflict between the Meiteis and Kukis has been lingering for a year. The charges of ethnic cleansing by each other continue unabated, with the common people decrying apathy by both the state and the central government towards their plight.
‘Manipur in Mourning — Call for Justice’, organized by various Meitei organizations across the globe, had Manipuris in Kolkata (MIK) participating in the event on Friday evening. Through the global solidarity event, the participants not only prayed for peace but also tried to address what they call a misrepresentation of facts.
“A section of media has misrepresented this conflict as that of a fight between the non-tribal and the tribals, the Hindus and the Christians or the majority Meiteis attacking the minority Kukis,” said a release by the conglomeration of the organizers.
They said that none of these was true as Manipur is inhabited by other tribes apart from Kukis who also follow Christianity, while the conflict is restricted to only two communities. Both churches and places of worship by Meiteis have been destroyed during the violence.
While maintaining that not all Kuki settlers are illegal immigrants, the organizers blamed the militants behind the mayhem with an eye on carving out a separate administration. Kukis, on the other hand, have been blaming the Meiteis for the violence.
Those who have died, those missing and those now living in relief camps are individuals from both the communities. Some security personnel too have died in the violence. The economy and development of the state have been badly hit. The business community from both sides is also impacted as normalcy fails to return.
“We urge both the central and the state government to end the year-long violence. We want peace back in the state so that people living in the relief camps can go back to their homes,” said a member of MIK with the hope that peace and reconciliation were possible if the government intervenes in the right way.