Manipur’s Interfaith Forum for Peace and Harmony (IFPH) has organized rally appealing for an end to the ongoing violence and for initiating dialogue between the two warring ethnic groups.
Some 500 people belonging to diverse religious and faith traditions, ethnic and spiritual communities participated in the July 11 rally at Palace compound in Imphal, capital of the northeastern Indian state where clashes between Meitei and Kuki groups began on May 3.
Five Members of Parliament from Kerala and Tamil Nadu also joined the rally to express their solidarity with the interfaith initiatives.
Addressing the media in the campus of Bal Vidya Mandir, convener, IFPH Deben Bachaspatimayum said, “People of all age and sex who participated in the rally are concerned citizens of India who also represented the core values of humanity across diverse religious, faiths and spiritual communities in the state.”
Stating the purpose of the rally, he said, “We collectively mourned deaths caused by violence; extended prayers of healing for victims; expressed solidarity with the displaced; and extended solidarity with women and citizen groups calling for ceasefire and dialogue.”
Members of the forum comprised of All Manipur Buddhists Association, All Manipur Christian Organisation, Art of Living, Bhakti Seva Lub/Ekta Parishad, Brahmakumaris, Catholic archdiocese of Imphal, Divine Life Society, Federation of Madrasahs, International Society of Gaudiya Vaishnavas, International Society of Krishna Consciousness, Jain Samaj, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Lainingthou Sanamahi Temple Board, Mahatma Seva Ashram, Manipur Baptist Convention, Meitei Christian Church Council, Manipur Cultural Integration Conference, Naga Christian Forum, Rongmei Naga Baptist Association, and Tinkao Ragwang Chapriak, Phom.