Positive signs of peace returning in Manipur, Meitei-Kuki dialogue being encouraged: RSS

New Delhi: RSS volunteers are making efforts to reduce tension in Manipur by promoting dialogue between Meitei and Kuki communities, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said on Monday, asserting that peace is gradually returning to the state.

Addressing a press conference here, RSS' national publicity and media department head Sunil Ambekar said delegates, who attended a three-day meeting of the ‘prant pracharaks’ here, shared information on the current situation in Manipur and “positive” developments unfolding in the state.

“People from all over the country had come to attend the meeting. They also shared information on how ‘swayamsevaks’ (RSS volunteers) are trying to establish harmony there as quickly as possible, establish peace,” the senior RSS functionary said, briefing on the outcomes of the meeting which concluded on Sunday.

“For this, they (RSS swayamsevaks) are promoting talks between their Meitei and Kuki communities, and all the people, so that there is a good atmosphere among them. They are trying for this,” he said.

Ambekar said that the situation in Manipur has improved compared to last year.

“Many positive things came to light from their (delegates’) experience. It will take some more time (for the situation to return to complete normalcy). But some positive news has been received through them (delegates who attended the RSS meeting),” he added.

Replying to a question on the opposition's claim that there is no normalcy in the state, Ambekar said, "When conditions worsen anywhere, it does not get better in a day. But definitely, if we compare it with the previous years, peace has started returning to some extent.

"The peace process has begun. The dialogues happening between the two sides will progress.” In a statement later, Ambekar said RSS volunteers are talking to “both sides” (Meitei and Kuki) in their bid to restore normalcy in Manipur.

“Owing to this, positive changes can be seen on the ground,” he said.

More than 260 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo groups since May 2023.

The Centre had on February 13 imposed the President’s rule in Manipur after the then chief minister N Biren Singh resigned. The state assembly, which has a tenure till 2027, has been put under suspended animation.

To a query about Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge’s reported remarks that RSS will be banned if the Congress returns to power at the centre, Ambekar said, "Sangh was banned earlier as well. But they had to lift it... because it (ban) was not valid as per law." Asked if the issue of "secular and socialist" words added to the Preamble of the Constitution during the Emergency also figured in the RSS 'prant pracharaks' meeting, he said that RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale recently expressed his views on the issue, recalling atrocities carried out on the “people in jails and the Constitution” during Emergency.

"The new generation should know about this," the senior RSS functionary said.

“The circumstances under which the Constitution was amended were not right. There was no democratic situation then. Therefore, there is no closed chapter in democracy. A debate should happen on issues. It’s every generation's right," he told reporters.