Hiccups to centre's confidence building process
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: June 14, 2023 -

OUTRIGHT rejection by Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) to its enlistment in the Peace Committee constituted by the Centre on the ground that it was neither informed nor consulted with and the objection raised by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) over inclusion of chief minister N Biren Singh in the Committee is certainly a setback to the confidence building process.

According to KIM, peace must be the result of concerted efforts of the Union Home Ministry and the affected communities and based on the condition not to impose normalcy whereas ITLF expressed the view that the Peace Committee must be formed only after conditions of normalcy and security for the Kuki tribal villages have been secured for a certain period of time.

The KIM also explained that it is compelled to object the Peace Committee as its president was listed as member without prior and proper consultation and information but hastened to convey that it is not averse to any peace effort envisaged to deliver justice.

As an apex body of the Kuki community it is understandable that KIM declined to be part of the peace panel in acknowledgement of the hundreds of its people enduring hardships in the various relief camps and yearning for return to normal life.

For those affected by the violence it is obvious that their foremost desire would be to live a secured life and ensure the same for their children, who, similar to the Meetei kids waiting for restoration of peace and harmony, are paying a high price for belligerence of the adults.

It is also questionable why KIM is premising the rejection for inclusion in the Committee to absence of prior information as it is likely that many among the 51 members entrusted to reach out to the communities in distress also have no idea about their enlistment.

Moreover, as the Committee has been constituted by the ministry of home affairs the stakeholders concerned need to extend all possible support to the efforts made for containing the violence, which has been affecting every section of the society.

For the simple reason that chief minister N Biren is one of the members of the Peace Committee, KIM cannot afford to distance itself from the endeavours to stabilise the situation as allowing the mayhem to persist will only affect the innocent people the most.

ITLF, on the other-hand, needs to do some serious soul-searching before holding the chief minister accountable for the violence as the drone recovered by villagers and handed over to security forces has footages showing its volunteers jointly conducting recce of Meetei villages in the peripheral areas with people armed with sophisticated weapons.

As intermingling with the armed persons wasn’t meant to bring peace, ITLF blaming the government for the restive situation seems intended to cover up its nefarious activities to aid disruptive elements fan violence rather than contribute to averting escalation of tension.

However, as holding talks is the only option left to enable the suffering commoners taste the real meaning of life, it is desired that stakeholders concerned, including the COCOMI, which too has rejected inclusion in the Peace Committee, acknowledge efforts of the Union government to give peace a chance.