Govt holds meeting with four Manipur militant outfits in Guwahati

Guwahati/Imphal: The government has held a meeting with the leaders of four Kuki militant outfits of Manipur with whom the government earlier signed Suspension of Operation accord, officials said.

A senior official said on Thursday that the meeting was held at the Assam Police's Special Branch headquarters at Kahilipara in Guwahati.

The outcome of the crucial meeting is not yet known as all concerned remained tight-lipped.

Thursday's meeting was held within two days after the visit of Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan in Manipur.

The Union Home Secretary accompanied by Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Kumar Deka visited Manipur for two days (Monday and Tuesday) and they visited tribal-inhabited Kangpokpi and Churachandpur districts and Imphal East district.

Union Home Secretary Mohan and Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla held a high-level meeting on Monday and discussed ongoing fencing work along the India-Myanmar border as well as the law and order situation in the state.

A Raj Bhavan official had said that the Governor Bhalla and the Union Home Secretary Mohan held high-level review meeting with top civil, Army, para-military and security officials and the discussion focussed on key issues concerning the state, including ongoing fencing work, along the 398-km India-Myanmar border with Manipur as well as the law and order situation in the state.

"The review meeting deliberated the progress of the border fencing along the International Border and the law and order situation in the state. Maintenance of public order and developmental efforts were the highlights of these meetings," the official said.

The Union Home Secretary during his visit to several relief camps in three districts supervised the well-being of the violence-hit displaced people.

Meanwhile, last month some MLAs and leaders of the Kuki-Zo communities in Manipur held a crucial meeting in Guwahati and demanded the Central government to resume talks with the Kuki militant outfits with whom the government earlier signed the Suspension of Operation accord.

United Peoples' Front and Kuki National Organisation, which are conglomerates of 23 underground outfits, signed a Suspension of Operation with the Central government on August 22, 2008, and then there are 2,266 Kuki cadres who have been staying in different designated camps in Manipur.

The Congress was in power in Manipur when the Suspension of Operation was signed.

More than 260 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May 2023.

IANS