Hmar Body Objects To Peace Meet Moderated By Security Forces In Manipur's Jiribam

Meitei and Hmar representatives held a peace meeting in Jiribam on Thursday

Imphal/Guwahati/New Delhi:

The Hmar tribe’s key civil society organisation in Manipur has refused to recognise a peace meeting between the Hmars and Meitei representatives moderated by the district commissioner and senior officers of the Central Reserve Police Force and the Assam Rifles.

A day after the peace meeting on Thursday, the house of a Meitei family was set on fire by unknown people in Jiribam, the police said. The family told reporters they managed to escape. No one was injured, the police said.

The civil society group Hmar Inpui in a statement said its affiliated units signed the peace agreement without the knowledge of the main office, adding it has shut down its Jiribam unit now.

“Hmar Inpui, general headquarters, is shocked to learn about the peace initiative that was taken on August 1, 2024 at a CRPF facility in Cachar, Assam. The first such initiative was held in Silchar on July 1. The Hmar Inpui condemned the engaging actors and negated the efforts that took place without our prior, informed consent,” the Hmar Unpui said.

“However, disrespecting the resolution of Hmar Inpui, members of Hmar Inpui/Jiribam Region, Hmar National Union and several individuals continue to bow to the whims and fancies of a divisive and communal state government,” it said, adding the group does not recognise the initiatives taken at the peace meeting.

A top civil society group of the Meitei community has questioned the Hmar group’s diktat and alleged the Hmar Inpui “appears to be the mouthpiece of vested groups”.

“As civil society organisations (CSOs), we expect to prioritise the well-being of citizens before anything else. Unfortunately, these so-called CSOs appear to be mouthpieces of vested groups. They are least bothered about the pain and suffering of the people,” the Meitei Heritage Society said in a statement.

“This validates again what we have been saying from day 1 of the crisis… that this is an orchestrated, engineered violence by separatist groups to advance their declared goal to carve out a so-called Kukiland by breaking Manipur,” the Meitei Heritage Society said.

In the peace meeting at the CRPF group centre in Jiribam on Thursday, the Hmar and Meitei representatives had agreed to make full efforts to bring normalcy and prevent incidents of arson and firing.

The two sides also agreed to cooperate with security forces in Jiribam, and to ensure controlled and coordinated movement of people. Another meeting will be held after August 15, they said in a statement.

Representatives of the Paite, Thadou and Mizo tribes living in Jiribam also participated in the meeting.

Jiribam, 250 km from the state capital Imphal, didn’t see violence for over a year since Meitei-Kuki ethnic violence began in May 2023; however, clashes erupted in the district in June, forcing over a thousand people from both the communities to live in relief camps, some in neighbouring Assam.

A CRPF soldier was killed in action on July 14 after a joint patrol with the state police was ambushed by “suspected Kuki insurgents” in Jiribam, the Manipur Police had said in a statement.

Hmar civil society groups had alleged Meitei insurgents had been attacking their villages in Jiribam.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh said in the assembly 226 people have died in the violence, and 59,000 have been internally displaced.

The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.