Several organisations representing the Kuki-Zo community in Manipur on Wednesday slammed a dance programme planned as part of the welcome ceremony for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is likely to visit the ethnic violence-hit state on September 13, for the first time since the conflict broke out in May 2023.
The Imphal Hmar Displaced Committee stated that the PM should interact with those affected in the ethnic violence instead of participating in the welcome ceremony.
Gangte Students Organisation in Churachandpur district said it would welcome the PM's likely visit, but "we can't dance with tears in our eyes!" "Our mourning is not yet over, our tears are not yet dried, our wounds are not yet healed, we cannot dance with joy," the Imphal Hmar Displaced Committee said in a statement.
Instead of taking part in a grand welcome ceremony, the PM should interact with the displaced people who are lodged at relief camps, it said.
The Churachandpur-based students' organisation, however, claimed that the PM's presence would help the ethnic violence-hit people heal their wounds and express grievances.
Kuki Inpi Manipur, the apex body of the Kuki community, stressed that the prime minister should be welcomed in the state, but the visit must also "serve justice and recognition of the Kuki-Zo people's collective aspirations."
The organisation claimed that the demand for a political solution remains "clear and firm" and that temporary relief measures cannot bring a lasting solution.
The PM's likely visit is seen as an opportunity for a section of people in the Meitei-majority Imphal valley to express their hardships.
"The prime minister's presence in the state will offer us a platform to share long-standing grievances and how innocent villagers have been affected by the ethnic strife," said Soibam Reagan, a villager in the Imphal East district.
A women's organisation Imagi Meira said the PM, during his visit to Manipur, should direct officials to allow Meiteis to move along the national highway and to ensure their safety.
More than 260 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo groups since May 2023.
The Centre had imposed the President's rule in Manipur after Chief Minister N Biren Singh resigned.
The state assembly, which has a tenure till 2027, has been put under suspended animation.
(With inputs from PTI)