New Delhi: After a gap of almost 2 years, the Ministry of Home Affairs resumed talks with Kuki-Zo insurgent groups in Manipur to discuss a “way ahead” for a “political solution” for the state and a broad outline for the suspension of operations (SoO) pact that remains in limbo.
The talks were held with five members of Kuki Zo SoO groups, MHA’s Northeast adviser A.K. Mishra and Intelligence Bureau officials Monday.
According to government sources, the discussion revolved around opening of highways to ensure that free movement of people across the state without any obstruction, and the Kuki-Zo groups demanding a “revision in the ground rules” of the SoO agreement.
The surrender of weapons that were looted post 3 May, 2023, was also discussed in detail, the source said.
National Highways-2 and 37, that connect the Imphal valley to Nagaland and Assam respectively, are critical for supply of essentials and other commodities. They pass through Kuki-Zo inhabited areas and have seen blockades and protests in the last 3 years, hindering supply of essentials.
“We are glad that the resumption of dialogue happened after so long. We discussed how to find a way forward. It is a good start, we covered many points in the discussion including revision of the ground rules of the SoO pact,” a leader who attended the meeting told ThePrint. “The new ground rules which require rewording of many phrases has to be done. The second meeting will be held soon, hopefully within a week.”
Before the violence erupted in the state, the key demand of the SoO groups was to have autonomous territorial councils within Manipur, which later changed to a separate administration for Kuki-Zo areas, defining it as a Union territory with a legislature.
The SoO camps had become the focal point of the ongoing conflict in the state as former CM N. Biren Singh, time and again, accused these cadres of “contributing to the escalation of violence”.
The camps were established as part of a pact signed on 22 August, 2008, between the Kuki militant groups and the central and Manipur governments, in light of the Kuki-Naga clashes in the 1990s.
According to the SoO agreement, members of these groups were required to suspend their operation as insurgents and stay within designated camps with their weapons securely stored in safe zones under a double-locking system.
The agreement has been periodically extended each year, except on 29 February last year when the Manipur government pulled out from the tripartite pact.
There is now a demand to relocate the SoO camps away from areas near the valley districts—which has a concentration of Meitei population—and to reduce the number of camps from 14 to 7.
“The discussion on the renewal of the camps has not yet happened. It is an ongoing process,” a government source said.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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