Prayagraj:
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and some of his cabinet colleagues and MLAs took a dip today at the Triveni Sangam in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj during the Maha Kumbh.
The chief minister in a post on X said he prayed for “peace, prosperity and well-being” of the nation and Manipur.
The northeast state bordering Myanmar is yet to return to full normalcy after ethnic clashes began between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribes in May 2023.
Mr Singh posted several photos from the Maha Kumbh, where he also met BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad.
“Standing at the sacred confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and the mystical Saraswati at Triveni Sangam, one feels the embrace of divinity itself. As the cool waters touch the soul, they wash away not just the dust of the body but the burdens of countless lifetimes,” Mr Singh said in a post on X. He wore a traditional white dhoti and a stole.
“With folded hands and a heart full of devotion, I pray for the peace, prosperity, and well-being of our great nation and the beloved people of Manipur,” he said.
Standing at the sacred confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and the mystical Saraswati at Triveni Sangam, one feels the embrace of divinity itself. As the cool waters touch the soul, they wash away not just the dust of the body but the burdens of countless lifetimes.
With folded… pic.twitter.com/4aG9pxH9qr
— N. Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) February 6, 2025
“At Triveni Sangam, where sacred rivers unite, the waters cleanse both body and soul. I pray for our nation and Manipur, seeking peace, strength, and prosperity. May divine grace guide us toward unity and light,” he added.
At Triveni Sangam, where sacred rivers unite, the waters cleanse both body and soul. I pray for our nation and Manipur, seeking peace, strength, and prosperity. May divine grace guide us toward unity and light. pic.twitter.com/X6zRW3sNiA
— N. Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) February 6, 2025
UP minister Dinesh Khatik, during his visit to Manipur, invited the chief minister to the Maha Kumbh.
The chief minister left for Delhi on Wednesday. Three ministers and four BJP MLAs also followed the same day.
More than 250 people have been killed and 50,000 left homeless in the Manipur violence.
Elusive Peace
Mr Singh has said he has been working to bring peace, but groups with vested interests have been trying to derail any move towards bringing peace.
Kuki groups, including insurgent organisations that represent their tribes and that signed the controversial suspension of operations (SoO) agreement with the Centre and the state government, have pointed at the ethnic clashes as the reason why they escalated their demand from an autonomous council to a separate administration, or a Union Territory with an assembly.
The World Kuki-Zo Intellectual Council (WKZIC), however, in a memorandum to Manipur’s new Governor on January 15 said the Kuki tribes have been demanding a state “since 1946-47.”
The internally displaced people from both communities are yet to return home.
Kuki leaders have said a “political solution” in the form of a separate administration should be discussed first before any other issues, including the return of thousands of people living in relief camps.
Meitei leaders have, however, cited this condition placed by the Kuki leaders as a deceitful attempt to set up a narrative for an ethnocentric homeland demand; the Meitei leaders’ argument is that talks can go on while at the same time people living in difficult conditions in the camps can also return home since no territory is ethnic exclusive.
The demand for an ethnocentric homeland is untenable and obsolete in Manipur, where at least 35 communities co-exist, a group of activists and academics from the violence-hit state bordering Myanmar had said at a side event of the 57th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva in October.