Solution to end Manipur unrest must not touch Naga areas: Naga MLAs to Amit Shah

The 10 Kuki-Zomi MLAs, including seven of the BJP, have been demanding a separate administration for the ethnic community as ‘the only solution; for ending the clashes between the Kuki-Zomi people and the majority Meiteis

GUWAHATI

Any solution to end the ethnic unrest in Manipur should not touch the areas inhabited by the Naga people, the strife-torn State’s Naga MLAs have told the Centre.

Of the 60 Assembly seats in Manipur, 20 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes. Ten of these are represented by MLAs belonging to different Naga communities while the other 10 are represented by leaders of the Kuki-Zomi tribal group.

The 10 Naga MLAs, along with Manipur’s lone Naga MP Lorho Pfoze had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on June 7.

“We had a meaningful discussion with Mr. Shah on the present situation in Manipur. We told him categorically that our Naga areas should not be touched in the event of any arrangement for a separate administration,” Manipur Minister Awangbou Newmai told journalists in Dimapur, Nagaland’s commercial hub, on June 9.

The 10 Kuki-Zomi MLAs, including seven of the BJP, have been demanding a separate administration for the ethnic community as “the only solution” for ending the clashes between the Kuki-Zomi people and the majority Meiteis.

Some hill districts in Manipur are inhabited exclusively by the Nagas and the Kuki-Zomi people. Pockets of a few districts such as Chandel, Tengnoupal, and Senapati have a mixed tribal population.