Representatives of the armed Meitei group Arambai Tenggol on Tuesday met Manipur Governor Ajay Bhalla in Imphal and put forward conditions to surrender looted weapons.

The organisation’s Public Relations Officer Robin Mangang said that the meeting with the governor was positive and that “normalcy would soon return” in the northeastern state. “If our terms are fulfilled, we will give them [the weapons] up…” he told reporters.

Amid the ongoing ethnic violence in the state that began in May 2023, combatants have armed themselves with weapons looted primarily from police armouries in the state.

On February 20, the governor had urged all communities in the state to surrender looted weapons within a week, adding that no punitive action would be taken against those who complied within the deadline.

In its memorandum to the governor, Mangang listed the conditions that include the construction of a fence along India’s border with Myanmar, implementation of the National Register of Citizens in the state with 1951 as the base year, deportation of “all illegal immigrants to their native places” and “reinstatement” of Scheduled Tribe status for the Meitei community.

The Manipur High Court’s March 2023 order, which was made public a month later, had directed the state government to consider the inclusion of the Meiteis in the list of Scheduled Tribes.

The order had played a key role in triggering the ethnic conflict between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities in the state, which has left at least 258 dead and displaced more than 59,000.

In February 2024, the High Court ordered the paragraph carrying the directions to be removed.

On Tuesday, the Arambai Tenggol also demanded the abrogation of the Suspension of Operations agreement the government has signed with Kuki militant groups, and called for “stringent action” against the organisations that violate the deal.

The Suspension of Operations agreement was signed between the Centre, the Manipur government and two conglomerates of Kuki militant outfits – the Kuki National Organisations and United Peoples Front – in 2008.

Under the agreement, the security forces as well as the militant groups are prohibited from launching operations. The militant groups must abide by the laws of the land and are also confined to designated camps identified by the Union government.

The Meitei outfit on Tuesday also called for the “complete destruction of poppy plantation” and withdrawal of the Scheduled Tribes status from “illegal immigrants”.

No arrests or legal action should be taken against “village volunteers including Arambai Tenggol by any Commission, Tribunal, Court, etc”, the group said. The term “village volunteers” has been used for armed civilians guarding villages since the conflict started.

Arambai Tenggol also sought an amendment of the 1960 Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act “for equal implementation in both hill and valley”. While the Kukis are in majority in the state’s hill districts, the Meiteis dominate the Imphal valley.

The Kuki Organisation for Human Rights on Tuesday criticised Bhalla for meeting representatives of the Arambai Tenggol, calling it an “armed extremist group responsible for mass violence, ethnic persecution and destabilisation” in the state, PTI reported.

The Kuki-Zo community will “not remain silent” when groups responsible for their persecution are treated as political stakeholders, the group was quoted as saying.

The Arambai Tenggol and its chief Korounganba Khuman are being probed by the National Investigation Agency in connection with several cases, including the looting of arms and ammunition from a Manipur Rifles complex.

The group is alleged to have orchestrated violence against the Kuki-Zo community since the beginning of the ethnic violence in Manipur in May 2023.

The governor had asked all communities to surrender arms a week after the Union government imposed President’s Rule in Manipur on February 13. The Legislative Assembly, which has a tenure till 2027, was put in suspended animation.

This came four days after on February 9, Bharatiya Janata Party leader N Biren Singh resigned as the chief minister amid allegations from Kuki-Zomi-Hmar groups that his response to the ethnic violence was partisan and that he had stoked majoritarianism.

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