Police recruits advocate for mediation to restore peace: Report
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, January 18 2025:
Manipur Police recruits from the Meetei, Kuki-Zo, and Naga communities, participating in an integration training organised by the Assam Rifles in December, emphasised the need for a neutral third party to mediate peace in the violence-stricken state, according to a report published by The Hindu.
The report also cited a senior government official stating that most participants expressed disillusionment with their leaders' inability to resolve the ongoing ethnic tensions and called for a greater role for the Central government in tackling the crisis.
The integration training, directed by union home minister Amit Shah, was conducted for approximately 1,900 recruits at the Lachit Borphukan Police Training Centre in Assam.
This initiative followed discussions during a high-level meeting chaired by Amit Shah on June 17, 2024, which addressed the ethnic polarisation within the Manipur Police.
While the state continues to reel under the ethnic violence between the Kuki-Zo tribal community and the Meetei people that erupted on May 3, 2023, claiming over 250 lives, the programme sought to foster unity among recruits.
The recruits included 1,300 individuals from the Meetei community, 350 Nagas, and 260 Kuki-Zo participants.
The training focused on team building, celebrating diversity, instilling pride in being Manipuri and Indian, and countering fake news and propaganda.
Feedback collected from 450 recruits revealed that 95 per cent believed in the necessity of negotiations and truth and reconciliation as essential steps toward sustainable peace.
Additionally, 70 per cent rejected the weaponisation of youth and society, while 80 per cent identified fake news as a significant source of tension among communities.
The recruits expressed dissatisfaction with the steps taken by the government to address their grievances and the lack of national attention to their plight.
Around 75 per cent of respondents disapproved of the deployment of Central forces as a peacekeeping measure, and the Same percentage criticized the national media for failing to adequately represent the issues of Manipur.
The Assam Rifles, noting the success of the programme, has recommended extending similar training sessions to senior ranks of the Manipur Police at neutral venues in Assam or Meghalaya.
According to the official cited in The Hindu report, recruits who had suffered personal losses during the violence voiced their anguish and frustration with the lack of decisive action to improve the situation.