Manipur CM thanks Naga, Kuki communities for ensuring smooth movement of inter-state buses

Imphal, Aug 25 (IANS) Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh on Tuesday thanked the Naga and Kuki communities for ensuring the smooth and unhindered movement of inter-state public transport services along the Imphal–Dimapur–Guwahati National Highway-2 (NH-2).

The Chief Minister was addressing the 45th Hawkers’ Day (Newspaper Distributors) Celebration at Haying Khongbal in Imphal. He said that the cooperation and understanding shown by both Naga and Kuki tribal communities are important steps towards maintaining peace, restoring normalcy and ensuring smooth movement of people and public transport services in the state.

Referring to the reports of an unwanted incident that occurred at Taphou village in Senapati district on Monday, he said that the MLAs and district authorities persuaded both the communities to ensure free movement and refrain from any activities that disturbed the free movement of vehicles. Public transport from Imphal was resumed smoothly despite delays of a few hours.

On Monday, a CRPF jawan was injured in a gunfight between two groups and at least two houses were torched at Taphou village in Manipur’s Senapati district, triggering protests and a blockade on National Highway-2.

According to a police official, a house was torched at Taphou Kuki village in neighbouring Kangpokpi district, and subsequently, another house was burnt in Naga Taphou village in Senapati district.

Public transport services along the Imphal-Dimapur-Guwahati route via National Highway-2 continued for the fourth day on Tuesday. About 300 passengers, including women and children, left Imphal for Dimapur and Guwahati in a fleet of five buses and nine Winger vehicles smoothly.

This comes in the backdrop of Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh’s peace initiatives and reconciliation through dialogue among the communities, and following the joint announcement of free movement along all national highways on August 8 from the Kuki-Zo tribal inhabited Kangpokpi District headquarters.

Even after reports of some unwanted incidents occurred along the stretches of NH-2, the resumption of public road transport along the highways has continued uninterrupted.

A senior official of the state government said that the Chief Minister has been actively involved in bringing all communities together for dialogue and has been visiting various hill districts since February 2026. So far, around 900 passengers, including women, have travelled from Imphal to Dimapur, Nagaland’s main commercial city and to Guwahati, Assam’s main city, including Tuesday’s service. More than 400 passengers have also safely reached Imphal from Dimapur and Guwahati.

Chief Minister Khemchand Singh recalled his last visit to Jiribam district, where communities that had lived together were separated due to the ethnic violence, which began in May 2023. He stated that, under the peace process initiatives taken up by the Government, the gap has been bridged and the communities are now living together peacefully.

The Chief Minister maintained that dialogue among communities is the solution in bringing peace and development in the State. As part of the government’s initiatives to bring peace in the state, some individuals with vested interests do not want peace to prevail, citing the Tronglaobi incident in Bishnupur District, which claimed the innocent lives of two children, he added.

Khemchand Singh continued that all the different communities residing in the state have safeguarded the integrity of the State in the past, and we must continue to uphold and protect it for the future. It is not the sole responsibility of the government to safeguard the state, but a collective effort of all the people living in the state, he noted.

A memorandum submitted by the Hawkers’ Association to the Chief Minister assured that the proposal for providing a corpus fund to the Association would be discussed in the next Cabinet meeting.

The programme organised by the Manipur Hawkers’ Association (Newspaper Distributors) was attended by MLAs Sapam Kunjakeswor Singh, Lourembam Rameshwor Meetei and the leaders of the Association.

–IANS

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