Manipur’s 7 Naga, 10 Kuki MLAs held crucial meeting in Guwahati

In what appears to be significant development, Naga and Kuki MLAs from Manipur today held a crucial meeting in Guwahati, reports India Today NE.

Reliable sources have revealed that ten Kuki MLAs and seven Naga MLAs, totalling to seventeen, met today at a hotel near the airport in Guwahati.

The Naga MLAs present in the meeting today included Awangbow Newmai, Khashim Vashum, Losii Dikho, K Leishyo, S.S. Olish and others while the Kuki MLAs present in the meeting were Ngursanglur Sanate, Letpao Haokip, LM Khaute, Letzamang Haokip, Paolienlal Haokip, Nemcha Kipgen, Vungzagin Valte, Kimneo Haokip Hangshing, Chinlunthang and Haokholet Kipgen.

This meeting comes at a very significant moment as both the Meitei and Kuki lobbies have trying to woo the Naga side amidst the ongoing ethnic conflict.

Sources have revealed that today's meeting is primarily on Hills area committee although discussions were on the scrapping of the Free Movement Regime (FMR), resolution to the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur.

So far, the Naga dominated districts of Manipur have remained largely peaceful even as the rest of the state has been affected since May last year.

The meeting between the MLAs today isn't the first meeting since the onset of the ethnic turmoil in Manipur. On June 21, 2023, a meetng took place involving two Naga lawmakers and six Kuki legislators in Guwahati. Nevertheless, details of the agenda for that meeting remained undisclosed at the time, with insiders deeming it premature for disclosure.

More than 180 people have been killed in Manipur since ethnic violence erupted on May 3 last year after a tribal solidarity march was organised in the state to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.