Thadou Inpi, Meitei Alliance hold peace meet
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, March 07 2025: In a landmark event, a meeting on 'community understanding for peaceful and harmonious co-existence in Manipur' was held between delegates of Thadou Inpi Manipur, the apex body of the Thadou community, and Meitei Alliance, a consortium representing various Meetei organisations based outside Manipur, in New Delhi on Friday.

According to a joint statement issued by the two organisations, Thadou Inpi Manipur was led by its president M James Thadou, while Meitei Alliance was represented by Sagolsem Biramani.

The meeting reaffirmed the exigency of taking up initiatives towards promoting peaceful and harmonious relationship and understanding among diverse communities that shape the cultural fabric of Manipur.

Thadou Inpi, Meitei Alliance hold peace meet

The statement outlined key points of agreement reached between the two bodies and emphasised the importance of preserving and promoting Manipur as a cohesive and harmonious multi-ethnic society, upholding a sense of unity, integrity, peace, respect, and safety among all members of the society.

It also underscored the need for a collaborative approach and community action to address specific genuine concerns of the communities of Manipur, while keeping in mind the larger collective interest of the state.

The meeting recognised the original inhabitants of Manipur, including all its original communities, and called for updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC), while also advocating for delisting of vague or fake nomenclature such as "Any Kuki tribes" tribe from the Scheduled Tribes list of Manipur.

At the same time, the statement acknowledged the bold leadership and aspiration of Thadou Inpi Manipur to preserve and promote Thadou identity as independent and distinct from Kuki.

The two bodies also agreed on the necessity of joint initiatives and collective efforts to overcome community identity misidentification and misinterpretation.

The meeting marked an important step toward fostering community under standing and strengthening peaceful and harmonious co-existence in Manipur in the wake of the humanitarian crisis in the state which has persisted for over 22 months.

Meanwhile, Thadou Community International (TCI) denounced death threats by United Kuki National Army (UKNA) against Thadou Inpi Manipur leaders ahead of the press conference on peaceful coexistence between Thadou tribe and Meeteis.

In a release, TCI stated that the press conference on Friday is a collaborative effort to foster mutual respect and peaceful dialogue between the communities.

Any attempt to silence these efforts through death threats or intimidation is unacceptable and highly condemnable, it added.

Pointing out that the threats jeopardise lives and seek to derail vital peace efforts, TCI urged authorities to take decisive action against those responsible in order to ensure safety of all those involved in peace efforts.

Swift and firm legal action is necessary to prevent further attempts to disrupt peace, it maintained.

"Moreover, UKNA shall be held accountable for any harm to our Thadou leaders," it cautioned, while calling on all peace-loving individuals, organisations, and authorities to unite in rejecting violence but stand firm against any attempts to divide the communities.