Fresh violence erupted in Manipur’s Jiribam on Friday, a day after Meitei and Hmar groups held peace talks to ensure the smooth movement of both communities in the district, reported The Indian Express.
A Meitei family’s house was torched in Jiribam’s Lalpani, a Bengali majority area close to a Kuki village called Sejang. According to PTI, the house was abandoned. Some unidentified men also fired several rounds of gunshots in the village.
“We sent a combined team with the CRPF [Central Reserve Police Force],” Jiribam Superintendent of Police M Pradip Singh told The Indian Express. “There was some provocation but we have controlled the situation without further escalation. We are meeting to deliberate on how to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.”
It is suspected that the arson was a backlash against the peace talks, Singh told the newspaper.
“There is a section that does not want peace to come,” he said. “The road ahead is challenging, we cannot be deterred. We will keep working towards it.”
Leaders of nine civil society organisations from Jiribam representing Meitei and Hmar interests met in Assam’s Cachar district on Thursday.
The meeting was moderated by the district collector, superintendent of police, the Jiribam Deputy Inspector General of the Central Reserve Police Force and the Commandants of the 39 Assam Rifles, reported The Indian Express.
Besides Hmar, leaders from the Thadou, Paitei and Mizo tribes that come under the Zo umbrella attended the meeting.
They agreed on three key resolutions: both sides will make full efforts to bring normalcy and prevent incidents of firing and arson, they will cooperate with security forces in the district and ensure control and coordinated movement.
However, on Friday the apex tribal body of the Hmar community dissolved its Jiribam unit for participating in the peace meeting, reported The Hindu.
In a resolution, the Hmar Inpui declared the initiatives agreed upon in the peace meeting as “null and void”. It said that it had discouraged the peace efforts when they were initiated in early July.
Hmar Inupi also warned individuals who participated in the peace meetings to “stop their blind and selfish efforts”, reported The Hindu.
Those participating in the peace talks appeared to be bowing to the “whims and fancies of a divisive and communal government under the leadership of Mr [Chief Minister] Biren Singh,” the tribal organisation said. “They shall not represent Hmar in any manner, anywhere, anytime.”
Manipur has been gripped by ethnic clashes between the Meitei and tribal Kuki communities since May 2023. Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Wednesday told the state Assembly that at least 226 persons were dead and more than 59,000 persons displaced since the beginning of the clashes.
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