GUWAHATI
Any solution to end the ethnic unrest in Manipur should not touch the areas inhabited by the Naga people, the strife-torn State’s Naga MLAs have told the Centre.
Of the 60 Assembly seats in Manipur, 20 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes. Ten of these are represented by MLAs belonging to different Naga communities while the other 10 are represented by leaders of the Kuki-Zomi tribal group.
The 10 Naga MLAs, along with Manipur’s lone Naga MP Lorho Pfoze had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on June 7.
“We had a meaningful discussion with Mr. Shah on the present situation in Manipur. We told him categorically that our Naga areas should not be touched in the event of any arrangement for a separate administration,” Manipur Minister Awangbou Newmai told journalists in Dimapur, Nagaland’s commercial hub, on June 9.
The 10 Kuki-Zomi MLAs, including seven of the BJP, have been demanding a separate administration for the ethnic community as “the only solution” for ending the clashes between the Kuki-Zomi people and the majority Meiteis.
Some hill districts in Manipur are inhabited exclusively by the Nagas and the Kuki-Zomi people. Pockets of a few districts such as Chandel, Tengnoupal, and Senapati have a mixed tribal population.
“We told the Centre that touching the Naga areas for any solution will create more problems. We also made it clear that any arrangement for Nagas should be based on the peace process between the Nagas (extremists, chiefly the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim) and the government of India,” Mr. Newmai said.
He also said that the Naga MLAs conveyed to Mr. Shah that they were trying to broker peace between the Meiteis and the Kukis.
“The Home Minister assured us that the three major communities, Meiteis, Nagas, and Kukis, would be consulted before any plan for a separate administration is pursued,” Mr. Newmai said.
He insisted that the Nagas were neither silent on the Manipur situation nor taking sides. “As peace-loving people, Nagas do not want any war with anybody. Nor do we want our friends and neighbours to engage in a war. We are trying to reach out to the warring groups toward lasting peace,” he said.
