The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an apex body representing the Meitei community, has attributed the ongoing ethnic conflict in the state to a "lack of genuine political leadership."
After 11 days of waiting for forensic and procedural clearances, the bodies of eight Meitei hostages, including women and children, were handed over to their families on Friday.
Nengboi Doungel, a Kuki-Zo woman from Pangmol village in Manipur's Tamenglong district, gave birth to a baby girl in the safety of Assam’s Hmarkhawlien relief camp.
The fragile peace in Manipur, where ethnic tensions between the Kuki and Meitei communities have simmered for over 18 months, was shattered again as violence escalated across the state. Tensions rose sharply following the discovery of three bodies, suspected to be missing persons, along the Assam-Manipur border.
While the 6 Kuki-Zo-Hmar MLAs said they did not attend the meeting, a press statement by the MHA claimed that meeting unanimously resolved to appeal to the people of the State belonging to all communities to shun the path of violence so that no more precious lives of innocent citizens are lost
A crucial meeting between legislators representing the Meitei, Kuki, and Nagas communities from Manipur would be convened in the National Capital on October 15.
Finally, after one-and-a- half year, a positive story has come out from the trouble-torn northeastern state of Manipur where Meiteis and Kukis were in violent confrontation but a rare and heartwarming video has surfaced where Kukis and Meiteis were seen hugging each other.
