The United Meitei-Pangal Committee of Manipur on August 18 said its best efforts to broker peace between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities were not yielding any results and urged the President, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Commission for Minorities to urgently intervene and bring peace.
The ethnic conflict that broke out on May 3 has continued for over 100 days now. More than 150 have been killed in the violence, hundreds more injured, and tens of thousands of people internally displaced.
Over the last three months as the divide between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities became entrenched, Meitei Pangals (the small percentage of Meiteis who practise Islam) have remained a neutral community, largely living in areas between Meitei and Kuki-Zo settlements. For the longest time, they have been given safe passage by both communities.
