Action On Manipur Strife Delayed Due To Polls, Govt To Give It Utmost Priority After Results: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah noted that the violence stemmed from a lack of dialogue and trust between between the Meitei and Kuki communities due to certain incidents.

A file photo of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. ( Image Source :PTI )

Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed on Saturday that the government is actively working to bridge the trust gap between the Meitei and Kuki communities to achieve lasting peace in Manipur. He highlighted that this process would be accelerated once the Lok Sabha elections are concluded.

In an interview with news agency PTI, he outlined that the conflicts between the Meitei and Kuki communities are ethnic and can't be resolved through force. "This is not an issue of riots or terrorism. This is an issue of ethnic violence. It can't be resolved through force. This is ethnic violence," Shah remarked, addressing whether strong governmental action was needed to end the ongoing violence in the northeastern state.

The home minister noted that the violence stemmed from a lack of dialogue and trust between the two communities due to certain incidents.

"We have to repair this. This is a time-consuming job. We were working on it speedily. But it has been delayed due to the elections. That is quite natural," he said, as reported by PTI

"Because, leaders of both the communities are talking about the interests of the respective community, or their own political issues. But after the counting, the government will work on it with utmost priority. I believe there will be no violence in the future," he also said.

Manipur Violence

Ethnic violence erupted in Manipur on May 3, 2023, following a tribal solidarity march in the hill districts to protest the majority Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status. Since then, over 220 people from both communities and security personnel have been killed.

A BJP-led government has been in power in Manipur since 2017. The state has two Lok Sabha constituencies: Inner Manipur and Outer Manipur. The BJP has fielded a candidate in Inner Manipur and supported the Naga People's Front (NSF) candidate, an NDA partner, in Outer Manipur.