Manipur peace panel: Kukis unhappy, may not attend meetings

Kuki members included in a committee set up by the Centre to facilitate the peacemaking process among various ethnic groups of strifetorn Manipur expressed unhappiness claiming they were not consulted before including their name in the panelSeveral Kuki organisations also raised objections to the inclusion of Chief Minister N Biren Singh in the 51member panel headed by Governor Anusuiya UikeyThe Meitei community members however welcomed formation of the Peace CommitteeThe apex body of Kuki Inpi Manipur KIM in a statement said its president has been included in the list of members without prior and proper consultation and informationKuki Inpi Manipur senses no rationale to pursue peace solely with individuals who have engineered the violence against its people Peace must be the result of the concerted efforts of the Union Home Ministry and the affected communities It cannot be a condition to impose normalcy the KIM saidKukibased civil society organisation Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum ITLF has also condemned the inclusion of Chief Minister N Biren Singh in the panel The creation of such a Peace Committee by the Central government must be made only after conditions of normalcy and security for Kukitribal villages have been secured the ITLF said in a statementAnother organisation Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity COCOMI asserted that unless the peoples demand for taking action against illegal immigrants and narcoterrorists is fulfilled peace and normalcy will remain a far crySince these demands have been ignored by the government of India COCOMI will stay away from the Peace Committee its Convenor Jeetendra Ningomba said in a statementMultiple sources in the Kuki community claimed that its members in the panel are unlikely to attend the meetings Several Meitei members included in the committee however welcomed the move Damages and casualties have been enormous The fight between brothers must be resolved at the earliest Step by step solution must be sought and the formation of the Committee is the first step towards restoring peace and normalcy Sarangthen Brajabihari Chairman of the Bar Council of Manipur told PTIRetired news editor of All India Radio BB Sharma said the members have not been informed about the agenda of the Committee I have been informed that the first meeting is on June 15 at 2 pm at Raj Bhavan I will definitely go he saidThe Committee has 25 representatives from the Meitei community 11 from the Kuki community and 10 from the Naga community which has Governor Anusuiya Uikey as the Chairperson Three from the Muslim and two from the Nepali community are also included in the CommitteeAt least 100 people lost their lives and 310 others were injured in the ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki community people in Manipur that broke out a month ago Army and paramilitary personnel were deployed to restore peace in the stateCurfew remains in force in 11 of the 16 districts of Manipur while internet services are suspended in the entire northeastern state Clashes first broke out on May 3 after a Tribal Solidarity March was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei communitys demand for Scheduled Tribe ST statusMeiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipurs population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley Tribals Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districtsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever