Mum on pre-conditions at Delhi do : Politics of dialogue
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: April 09, 2025 -

The politics of dialogue and the Kuki-Zo civil society organisations appear to have mastered this ‘art’ well, if one takes a look at the April 5 talk convened by the Union Home Ministry.

It was not from the Union Home Ministry or the organisations which represented the Meiteis at the talk that Manipur came to know about the talk being scheduled but from the Kuki-Zo CSOs when they came out with guns blazing in laying down three pre-conditions.

As widely reported by all the Imphal based newspapers and TV channels, the three pre-conditions laid down for the talk to fructify included-No cross movement, meaning no movement of Meitei individuals in Kuki-Zo dominated areas and vice versa; Initiation of dialogue read as meaningful and structured dialogue must commence during the cessation of hostility and 6-month ceasefire period which means that the ceasefire will be in force for six months.

These were the pre-conditions laid down on April 1 and it was only when these riders were published that Manipur or rather the Meiteis came to know that a crucial meeting has been lined up at Delhi on April 5.

This was on the first day of April and cut to the present, after the meeting has been held, and it has emerged that none of the pre-conditions featured in the talk with Union Home Ministry officials in attendance.

What is the politics in laying down the pre-conditions and keeping quiet over it during the crucial meeting ? Or were the pre-conditions deemed to be not vital to the first round of talk ?

Only questions at the moment, but the selective silence of the Kuki-Zo representatives during the Delhi meeting should not miss the ears and eyes of the people who have been keenly following the developments in the 2 years old conflict.

Apart from keeping silent over the pre-conditions, it has also come to light that the Kuki-Zo representatives refused to sign on the points laid down by the Union Home Ministry officials, taking refuge under the rider ‘will consult with the people first’.

As noted in an earlier commentary here, Manipur is not blind to what the ‘people’ mean here and surely this is a point which would not have blown over the heads of the Union Home Ministry officials.

Hence the question, how long is Delhi willing to bend over and wait for the ‘consult with the people first’ for the points laid down by them to be ratified ?

And the obvious question is, if the Kuki-Zo representatives were not empowered to sign the points laid down by the Centre, then why did they go all the way to Delhi for the said meeting ?

There will obviously be no honest answer from the Kuki-Zo community to this poser and perhaps the Union Home Ministry officials present at the meeting may try to answer this.

Manipur certainly needs an answer for it cannot dance to the tune of one community which in this case is the Kuki-Zo people.

From April 1 to April 5 and the Kuki-Zo community is under the impression that they can throw their weight around and dictate terms.

On April 1 the three pre-conditions were laid clear for the people of Manipur or rather the Meiteis to digest.

On April 5, they followed the same route and that is wind off the meeting with yet another rider-first consult with the people before committing oneself to the points laid down by the Union Home Ministry.

The game of one upmanship continues, from playing the victim card since the beginning of violence which involves fiddling with the minority card, the religious card, the victim story which was peddled and lapped up by the pen pushers who parachuted into Manipur after the place went up in flames in the evening of May 3, 2023, to now playing politics with a finesse at the talk stage.

This is about the politics that has been played with such precision till now and the natural question is, now what ?

When is the next round of talk likely to be held ? And more importantly is Manipur or rather the Meiteis well prepared to put their side of the story, the truth, convincingly at the next round of meeting ?

Only time will tell, but as maintained by The Sangai Express, Delhi has done the right thing in initiating the process for a talk.

A task which could have been taken up earlier, but now that it has come about, the coming days would certainly be crucial for Manipur and this is where it becomes important for the Meiteis to lay down that updating the National Register of Citizens is crucial.

Likewise this is also the stage for Manipur and the Meiteis to urge Delhi to spell out the exact status of the SoO pact and obviously highlight the mass deforestation for poppy cultivation.