After a 22-month restriction on movement of Meiteis and Kukis in Manipur that saw some over 250 people getting killed in a bloody ethnic clash, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had instructed officials to ensure free movement of people across all routes in the state from Saturday.

The administration led by Manipur Governor AK Bhalla has already taken the initiatives as the state is under President’s rule.

The government has arranged public buses that will run between the hills and the valley region, escorted by central forces from Saturday onwards.

The routes are Imphal-Kangpokpi-Senapati, Senapati-Kangpokpi-Imphal, Imphal-Bishnupur-Churachandpur, and Churachandpur-Bishupur-Imphal. Helicopter services between Imphal and Churachandpur and Ukhrul will also start.

Since their conflict erupted in May 2023, leading to a complete collapse of trust between these communities, Meiteis abandoned their homes in Kuki-dominated hills and Kukis have done likewise in Meitei areas.

The situation deteriorated to such an extent that members of both communities stopped travelling to areas where each is dominant. To reverse this and bring normalcy, Mr Shah directed fencing work on both sides of the designated entry points along the border with Myanmar should be completed at the earliest.

A proposed peace march on Saturday, timed to coincide with the Centre’s deadline for the start of free movement on the highways, has created tension again.

Security has been heightened in Meitei-dominated Imphal and the surrounding hills inhabited mostly by the Kuki tribes, ahead of the “march to the hills” planned by the Federation of Civil Societies (FOCS), a valley-based conglomerate of about 20 organisations.

“We are taking out this peace rally from Imphal to Senapati to unite the valley and the hills. We will go there and sit with them and discuss, we will not keep any animosity between us, Kukis and Nagas and we all are residents of Manipur,” FOCS chief Th Manihar said.

Reject Call For Free Movement

Kuki organisations said the proposed march was a “dangerous provocation”, and warned FOCS members against entering hill areas. The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) also rejected Mr Shah’s call for “free movement”.

The group said facilitating the march would be a “blatant breach” of the “buffer zones”.

“We welcome the movement of goods, but we don’t welcome the movement of people because of security reasons and the sentiments are still very high among the people. And no dialogue has become on the Kuki-Zo political demand of separate administration,” ITLF spokesperson Ginza Vualzong said.