Aizawl: Kuki-Zo leaders from Manipur’s hill districts met church leaders from Nagaland and Mizoram in Aizawl on Tuesday to explore a dialogue process aimed at ending the Naga-Kuki conflict in Manipur, sources in the Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee (MKHC), a coalition of major church denominations in the state, said.According to the sources, MKHC leaders held talks with visiting Kuki-Zo church leaders from the Churachandpur Christian Goodwill Council (CCGC), along with representatives of the Nagaland Joint Christian Forum (NJCF), and discussed the possibility of engaging Naga church leaders in Manipur.The MKHC and the NJCF agreed to take steps to facilitate dialogue between the Naga and Kuki-Zo communities in Manipur to help end the ethnic conflict, though further consultations will be needed.Leaders of the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) said outreach to the United Naga Council (UNC) for talks has not succeeded. They said a CCGC delegation was sent to Aizawl to request the MKHC to help broker a peace initiative with the Nagas in Manipur.The Aizawl meeting comes as Kuki civil society organisations have stepped up engagement with the Ministry of Home Affairs in Delhi, seeking “equal justice” for the community, restoration of humanitarian access to affected areas, and an expedited political resolution to the wider conflict in Manipur.KZC and Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) delegations were in Delhi over the weekend and Monday, where they met the Centre’s Northeast interlocutor Ajit Lal and Intelligence Bureau Director Mahesh Dixit. They also submitted a memorandum to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, citing a deteriorating humanitarian and security situation in Kuki-dominated areas.
