Meitei body, key tribal outfit hold peace talks

In a significant development, the Meitei Alliance, a consortium representing various Meitei organisations based outside Manipur, and the Thadou Inpi Manipur, the apex body of the Thadou community in the state, have held a meeting to chart a roadmap for peace.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, Major (Retd) RK Jhaljit of the Meitei Alliance told reporters that this was the first major step towards ensuring peace in the strife-torn state by engaging with the Thadou Inpi.

The Thadou Inpi represents the Thadou tribe, which is the largest among all the 33 tribes of the state, with a population of 2.5 lakh.

"Kuki is a vague term and it does not represent all the tribes of the state. Only some tribes term themselves as Kukis, but many of them, including the Thadous, do not identify themselves as Kukis," said James Thadou, president of the Thadou Inpi.

Jhaljit said that efforts to hold peace talks have been ongoing ever since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur in May 2023, but such things take time and efforts are gradually bearing fruit. He indicated that other tribes will also be reached out to gradually and expressed hope that the process will be successful.

Both bodies ruled out any intervention by the Centre behind the peace initiatives, though sources informed that backchannel efforts had been ongoing.