The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an influential umbrella organisation of social bodies in Manipur’s Imphal Valley, rejected the Kuki-Meitei peace talks facilitated by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in New Delhi on Saturday (April 5, 2025).
The organisation said it declined to participate in the “so-called” peace initiative as it was “stage-managed” by the MHA through a “misleading narrative” from Union Home Minister Amit Shah that Manipur’s crisis was merely an ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities allegedly triggered by a court directive on Scheduled Tribe status for the Meiteis.
“This narrative conveniently ignores the far more dangerous and deep-rooted realities that COCOMI has consistently highlighted since the beginning of this crisis,” the organisation’s convenor, Laikhuram Jayenta stated.
He said the conflict is an ongoing proxy war enabled and perpetuated by the Centre through the patronage of Chin-Kuki extremists nurtured since 2005 under the guise of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement.
Mr Jayenta said the COCOMI made it clear in previous engagements with MHA officials that the people of Manipur consider the Centre an active party to the conflict, not a neutral mediator.
“Without acknowledging this fundamental truth, any so-called peace initiative is a hollow exercise designed solely for political optics,” he said, adding that the Centre has repeatedly employed symbolic gestures to create a facade of resolution, with no sincere or substantive steps to address the root causes of this crisis.
“The latest meeting, hastily convened with a handful of individuals from both sides, is yet another tactical manoeuvre to fabricate an illusion of progress, conveniently timed to furnish talking points for the Home Minister’s parliamentary address,” the COCOMI said.
The organisation accused the Centre of not undertaking a single genuine measure to resolve the crisis that began in May 2023. “Instead, it has persistently evaded responsibility, refused to confront the actual drivers of conflict, and continues to embolden separatist elements through false hopes and covert support,” it said.
The COCOMI demanded some urgent steps for meaningful dialogue. These included enforcing the rule of law across the State, ensuring safety and order; neutralising all hostile groups in the hills operating with impunity; abrogating the SoO agreement and ejecting foreign-origin armed mercenaries from Manipur; and ensuring unimpeded access to highways and vital roads.
The organisation also asked the Centre to acknowledge the real causes of the crisis, including unchecked influx from Myanmar, and crack down on those with separatist agendas.
