In the midst of the ongoing general election, Union Home minister Amit Shah recently claimed that the government is working on removing the trust deficit between the Meitei and Kuki communities to bring lasting peace in Manipur. He said also that the clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities are ethnic in nature and hence cannot be resolved through force. The home minister said that the violence took place due to lack of discussions and lack of trust between the two communities. Even though it is late, it is still good to see the home minister acknowledging that peace between two warring communities can only be achieved through dialogue and not force.
For long, the union government failed both the communities. There is a massive mutual mistrust between the two communities. The only way to bring peace in Manipur is intervention from the government of India. Both the communities see the union government as a neutral body and look up to it for peace in the region. Whichever party comes back to power at the Centre, it should give priority to bring peace in Manipur. The violence has caused deaths of so many innocent people. People on both sides, especially the Kuki side, have borne the brunt of the violence. It time that peace is given chance.