Separate talks will not bring solution: Nando Luwang
18-Jan-2025
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By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jan 18: All Manipur United Clubs’ Organisation (AMUCO) president Pheiroijam Nando Luwang has categorically stated that the Government of India’s act of holding talks with different groups separately can never bring any kind of solution to the Manipur crisis.
Speaking to media persons by the sideline of a function held today at Rupmahal Theatre, Nando Luwang said that the talks held between officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs and some Kuki representatives on January 17, 2025 was in line with the Government of India's desire.
The selective or sectarian steps taken up by the Government of India is unlikely to bring any kind of solution to the protracted crisis, Nando said.
If the Government of India sincerely wishes to bring a solution to the protracted crisis, both the parties in conflict should be invited to joint meetings, the AMUCO president asserted.
The Government of India’s policy of talking with a single party while leaving the other party out will never bring any solution to the crisis, he said.
Saying that the Government of India has been following a policy of talking with different groups separately, Nando Luwang remarked that such policy smacks of communal politics.
It is not only the Meiteis who have been saying that the demand put forward by the Kuki-Zo people is illegitimate. In fact, the demand put forward by the Kuki-Zo people is irrational and lacks supporting documents., Nando Luwang said.
If the Government of India commits the blunder of listening to the demands of the Kuki-Zo people which are being vigorously pursued with large scale violence, the international community will certainly see the Constitution of India as a meaningless document, he said. Different communities may raise several demands but the Government of India needs to study which of these demands can be entertained or practical or whether they are backed by historical documents, the AMUCO president asserted.
He also expressed strong disapproval against dividing the legislators of Manipur on communal lines as Kuki MLAs, Naga MLAs and Meitei MLAs in the backdrop of the protracted crisis.
An MLA is an MLA and he/she does not represent any particular community exclusively. The way the Government of India separated the legislators of Manipur on communal lines is a matter of grave concern, he decried.
He went on to ask if the Government of India is following divisive politics purposefully.
Notably, officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs held talks with representatives of the Kuki Zo Council on January 17, 2025 at New Delhi. The Kuki Zo Council representatives reportedly placed a demand for creation of a Union Territory of Kuki-Zo people.