Manipur tribal groups’ body set to hold talks with Shah today

AIZWAL: The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), representing various Zo ethnic groups in Manipur, has accepted Union home minister Amit Shah’s invitation for discussions with the Centre in New Delhi, sources close to Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga said on Sunday. The talks are likely to be held on Monday.

An ITLF delegation set out from Manipur by road to Aizawl on Sunday and is set to proceed to Delhi on Monday by flight, according to sources.
In response to Shah’s invitation, the ITLF leaders held a daylong meeting on Saturday. Seeking advice, they turned to Zoramthanga, “who holds a respected position as a father figure among the Zo ethnic tribes” in the region, the sources said.

Zoramthanga encouraged the ITLF leaders to embrace the opportunity of face-to-face discussions with the Union home minister instead of declining the offer. Through his Instagram account, the CM expressed hope that the talks would be held in a conducive atmosphere of mutual trust and yield fruitful results.
Earlier, the Mizoram CM’s intervention had averted a potential flare-up on August 3, as ITLF took his advice to heed a request from the Union home ministry to postpone the group’s mass burial programme for 35 tribal victims of the ethnic strife in Manipur’s Churachandpur district. The programme was opposed by opposite groups in Manipur.