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September 23, 2023 06:00 am | Updated 10:06 am IST – CHENNAI
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Philem Rohan Singh, social activist and cyclist, addressing the press meet in Chennai on Friday. | Photo Credit: Akhila Easwaran
“We are ready for peace talks… awaiting a response…,” said Philem Rohan Singh, a traveller and activist from Manipur, in Chennai on Friday, in a bid to put an end to the four-month communal unrest between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo tribes in the north-eastern State.
Pitching to be a representative of both sides being a Christian by religion and Meitei by ethnicity, he told presspersons that both sides — Kuki-Zo blaming the Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh who is of the Meitei community for inaction, and the Meitei, the 10 MLAs, of the other community, who are demanding a separate administration, were indulging in a blame game.
The press conference was held by an organisation called the Chennai Manipuri Community. He claimed that there had been no history of wars or clashes waged by the Meitei community since 1892. Before that, there was the Anglo-Manipur War or Manipuri Rebellion of 1891, he said.
The cyclist claimed that roughly 250 churches of the Meitei community and about 80 of Kuki-Zho; and 393 Hindu temples were either looted, burnt or vandalised by mobs, some even by those belonging to the same communities.
According to him: “The blame game has to stop and the minority card cannot be played. We are ready for peace talks — even be it as a prayer meeting through pastors or evangelists. We are awaiting a response from the brothers and sisters of the Kuki-Zho community. The meeting can be in Delhi, Guwahati or Kolkata. A mutual understanding or middle ground has to be achieved. We request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in this. All [political] parties visiting the State must come for reconciliation and peace measures and not with any political agenda or seek mileage through this issue.”
He told The Hindu that atrocities against women took place on both sides and women of either community could not enter the territories where the opposite tribe was the majority at present.
“There are many narratives from the boundaries of Moreh and Churchandpur towns of women belonging to both tribes. Once a middle ground is achieved, women’s safety at the community level in all areas could fall in place too,” he said. The sexual violence incident in Kangpokpei district was highly condemnable, he said.
“This is not a religious issue, but purely communal and it affects other communities including Nepalis, Punjabis, Marwaris,” Mr. Singh told reporters.
An ambassador of Chennai Manipuri Community pointed out that 45 homes and shops belonging to Tamils were burnt down in Moreh, a town located on the international borders with Myanmar in the Tengnoupal district of the State.
“One of the Tamils native to the town had to shift to Chennai with his mother after he saw his friend being shot there. He yearns to go back there. At present, he has his father living in the house at Moreh to protect their home from being burned down by the Kuki-Zo community members who might mistake it for belonging to the Meitei community. He is afraid that if he shares his story, it could put the lives of all the Tamils in the area at risk,” he alleged.
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Manipur / Chennai / unrest, conflicts and war / civil unrest / armed conflict / riots / human rights / national security / sexual assault & rape / law enforcement / Narendra Modi
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