Imphal, Dec 8 (IANS) In a significant gesture since ethnic violence erupted in Manipur in May 2023, former Minister and BJP MLA Yumnam Khemchand Singh visited the tribal-majority districts of Ukhrul and Kamjong on Monday, in the first outreach by any Meitei leader to the hill areas since the conflict began.

Political observers described Singh’s move as exemplary and a path-breaking initiative aimed at restoring ethnic harmony in Manipur, particularly between the majority Meitei community and the Kuki-Zo tribals.

A member of the majority Meitei community, Singh, who is also a former Speaker of the Manipur Assembly, visited the Litan and Chassad villages, where he interacted closely with the tribal residents.

Litan falls under the Ukhrul district, while Chassad is located in the Kamjong district, both Naga-majority areas that are also inhabited by Kuki-Zo tribals.

A leader close to Khemchand Singh said that the former Rural Development Minister (Khemchand Singh) travelled to two Kuki villages in hill districts in a confidence-building measure and to break the ice for the first time in 31 months after the ethnic conflicts between the Meitai and Kuki-Zo community began.

Travelling to Litan, a Kuki hamlet in Ukhrul district, bordering Myanmar, the 61-year-old BJP leader interacted with Kuki villagers and inquired about their life and hardship faced in the past two and a half years.

He visited a Kuki relief camp at Litan Sareikhong Baptist Church and interacted with the inmates who fled their homes during the violence.

“With the coming of Christmas, we all should pray for the return of peace in the state,” said Singh, who was elected to the state assembly from Singjamei assembly constituency in Imphal West district.

Yumnam Singh, a sportsman-turned-politician and the founder of Assam Taekwando Association in the neighbouring state, had also earlier served as the Speaker of the Manipur assembly. He consoled the villagers and told them that the return of peace should be the main target of all communities residing in the state.

Yumnam reminded the 173 Kuki inmates at the relief camp that conflict exists in every part of the world, but it should not be allowed to hinder the progress and development of the state.

“There are conflicts among different countries, there are conflicts among different communities, across the world. But we should learn to live in harmony despite the existing differences. There should not be any hindrance in visiting each other’s villages,” Yumnam added.

He said, “We should not allow this conflict to affect the future of our children. We, the elders, may have differences, but we should think about our children’s future.”

As a rural development minister, Singh brought a package for the construction of 7,000 houses from the centre for the internally displaced persons.

He had also earlier organised a relief camp for internally displaced persons of the Meitei community at Manipur College in Imphal for over seven months.

The legislator helped the inmates return to their houses in Serou and Sugunu villages. Hopingson Shimray, state BJP vice president and prominent Tangkhul Naga leader who accompanied Singh during the journey, said that it was a remarkable gesture by him to travel to Kuki villages in the hills when everyone today is reluctant to venture to another community’s area.

He said that Yumnam is the first BJP Meitei MLA to step into a Kuki relief camp. Another Tangkhul Naga leader, Mark Luithing, former Autonomous District Council (ADC) chairman, said that Yumnam Singh is the first leader to start people-to-people contact after the May 2023 violence.

He said Yumnam also visited Chassad Kuki village in Kamjong district, bordering Myanmar.

Over 260 people were killed, 1,500 were injured, and over 70,000 people were displaced after the ethnic violence broke out between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo people on May 3, 2023, after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’, organised in the hill districts to protest the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

Manipur has been under President’s Rule since February 13, four days after the resignation of N. Biren Singh from the Chief Minister’s post.

–IANS

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