The Imphal Naga Forum (INF) has made a clarion call to all ethnic groups in Manipur to maintain peace and harmony amid the raging ethnic conflict in the state.
A release by the Information and Publicity Cell stated on Thursday that in the just concluded “Imphal Naga People’s Consultative Meeting” held at Tarung community hall on November 27 made a passionate appeal that peace reigns supreme in every nook and corner of the state.
The event was attended by the top Naga leaders including the special advisor to UNC; Chairman, Union Tangkhul Baptist Churches, Imphal; president of AMCO; the Vice president of UNC and its two former presidents and the ex-chairman; Committee for Alternative Arrangement, UNC.
The mega public event witnessed a huge turnout of Nagas in Imphal where they deliberated and introspected on the current upheaval in the state. The congregation of Nagas also expressed the immediate need to build an environment of peaceful coexistence and camaraderie, the INF stated.
The Nagas also lamented over the indifferent attitude of the Union government in solving the seven-month-old communal war and the effort to settle the burning issue is nowhere to be seen. There is no immediate solution in sight and one has not seen the faint light at the far end of the tunnel, the Naga forum said.
It also stated that the two warring communities failed to heed the earlier appeals made by the various CSOs and the International bodies to shun violence and return to the path of peace and prosperity.
During the consultative meeting, the Nagas prayed for divine intervention so that the troubled state of Manipur returns to the path of peace and reconciliation.
A series of brainstorming sessions with Naga intellectuals and Naga Christian
leaders including the president of All Christian Manipur organisation(AMCO) were held with Imphal Naga Forum on October 7 and on October 24 at Hotel Imphal, it informed.
With the noble initiative of Imphal Naga Forum, intensive inter- ethnic dialogues were organized with Meitei intellectuals on October 14 and again with the Taragi Cheishu (a conglomerate of lawyers, intellectuals, academicians and doctors) on October 27 to understand each other, challenges, difficulties and positions and to restore peace and tranquility in Manipur, the INF said.
