The Central government has assured Kuki groups that those guilty of committing violence in Manipur will face the law, but made it clear that a political solution can only be achieved after normalcy returns in the State.
Members of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum and the Manipur Tribal Forum Delhi met Intelligence Bureau (IB) Director Tapan Kumar Deka on July 7 at North Block, the Home Ministry’s offices in the capital.
The meeting is among a series of back-channel talks which the Centre is pursuing with civil society groups from both the Kuki and Meitei communities, who have been embroiled in ethnic violence since May 3, in which more than 140 people have been killed and nearly 60,000 displaced. A peace committee to be headed by the Manipur Governor, which was announced by Home Minister Amit Shah on June 1, is yet to take-off.
