KSO seeks transparency on “Talks between Kuki and Meitei”

Imphal: Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO) has urged Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh to disclose precise details of the talks between Kuki and Meitei.

The student body on Thursday said the chief minister on Wednesday stated that “talks between the two communities – Kuki and Meitei – involved in the ongoing ethnic conflict have already started and peace has begun to return to the state”.

Pertinent to this, the KSO General Headquarters insists that the chief minister should disclose the precise details regarding the organization or individual involved in the peace negotiations. “If it’s real, we seek transparency and accountability from the chief minister regarding these negotiations, emphasizing the importance of truthfulness in revealing this information,” it demanded.

“The KSO-GHQ is not aware and has no knowledge of any peace talks involving the chief minister or any valley-based CSO. The chief minister once again did media stunts to save its skin from the Centre and the public in general.”

Till date there has been no formal invitation from any government agencies regarding any negotiations for peace talks. The KSO emphasizes that the chief minister cannot assert such negotiations for peace talks without the involvement and presence of the central government and without the knowledge of Kuki CSOs, the student body said.

The narrative “ethnic conflict” is a misused term. This term is being used to conceal the government misdeeds. “It is not an ethnic rather it’s a conflict against the Government of Manipur who used its own radical groups to occlude and choke-up the emotional and rational discontentment of Kuki-Zo people, which later on inevitably demanded a separate administration to safeguard their own existence,” it added.