Meitei BJP MLA Makes Historic Visit to Kuki Villages, Calls for Peace and Unity in Manipur

Yumnam also traveled to Litan, a Kuki village in Ukhrul in the Myanmar border

Digital Desk: For the first time since ethnic violence erupted in Manipur in May 2023, Meitei BJP MLA and former Rural Development Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh travelled to two Kuki villages in the hill districts on Monday. The visit, which is perceived to be a huge confidence-building exercise, is meant to lift the long silence and mistrust between the two communities.

Yumnam also traveled to Litan, a Kuki village in Ukhrul in the Myanmar border, and met with villagers and asked them to share the tribulations they have been facing in the last two and a half years. The problem of Meitei-Kuki conflict has had a high impact on Manipar and has taken lives of more than 250 people and displaced more than one lakh population with a good number of them still residing in relief camps within the state.

At the Litan Sareikhong Baptist Church relief camp, Yumnam met 173 Kuki inmates who fled their homes during the violence. With Christmas approaching, he urged everyone to pray for the restoration of peace. The MLA, also a sportsman-turned-politician and founder of the Assam Taekwondo Association—previously served as Speaker of the Manipur Legislative Assembly.

He reassured the village people, emphasizing that peace should be among the universal objectives of every community. Although he may agree with the fact that there are conflicts in the world, Yumnam said that they must not hinder development or human-to-human contact. He said we should not leave this war to the future of our children.

As the Rural Development Minister, Yumnam had gotten a central package to build 7,000 houses to the internally displaced persons. He also made a relief camp in displaced Meitei families in Imphal, which took greater than seven months and helped them to go back to Serou and Sugunu villages.

BJP state vice-president Hopingson Shimray and Tangkhul Naga leader Mark Luithing, who accompanied him, described the visit as remarkable. They said Yumnam is the first Meitei BJP MLA to step into a Kuki relief camp and the first leader to initiate direct people-to-people contact since the 2023 violence.