GUWAHATI: Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh began a peace outreach on Wednesday with visits to relief camps, housing people displaced by the bloody ethnic violence, in the Jiribam district.
This is the first time since the eruption of the ethnic violence in May 2023 that a Manipur Chief Minister met the displaced people from both Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities.
Khemchand first visited a relief camp housing Meiteis on the Jiribam Higher Secondary School campus. He told the inmates that everyone must work towards removing the trust deficit.
“Jiribam is the gateway to Manipur and has a potential to become a business hub. Like Mumbai is India’s business capital, Jiribam can be Manipur’s Mumbai. For the business to flourish, peace has to come first,” said the Chief Minister who used a chopper to go to Jiribam, bordering southern Assam’s Barak valley, from Imphal.
Next, he visited the Kalinagar relief camp housing Hmar inmates. The Hmar tribe belongs to the Kuki-Zo community.
“Let us consider the last two years was a nightmare. Let us forget it and have the courage to move forward towards peace and development,” he said.
As the inmates there are all Christians, Khemchand said that Christianity teaches forgiveness and fostering love for neighbours and even enemies. He then visited Jarolpokpi Hmar village that experienced violence in 2023.
This is the second time that Khemchand visited Kuki-Zo villages since December 8 last year. Earlier, he had visited a Kuki hamlet at Litan Sareikhong in Ukhrul district and interacted with Kuki-Zo tribals displaced by the ethnic violence.
“I feel someone is trying to destroy the concept of Manipuri. First, we are Indians and then we are Manipuris. We can be Manipuri Naga, Manipuri Kuki and Manipuri Meitei. We need to rebuild the concept of Manipuri,” he stressed.
An official statement said the Hmar villagers gave full support to the state government and urged the Chief Minister to take care of the needs of the tribal village, particularly the school building.
Later, Khemchand visited the Mongbung Meitei village and interacted with villagers who requested him to repair the village road. Assuring that it will be developed, he told them that both communities should start interacting with each other to remove trust deficit.
He further stated that houses, being constructed for the displaced persons, were likely to be ready by March.