"When will it stop?" Mizoram CM Zoramthanga asked on Tuesday while expressing concern over killings and arson in neighbouring Manipur which has been continuing for the past 62-days.
"Nothing seems to have changed. We are counting, and today is the 62nd day. While we hope with much goodwill, anticipation and hope, things would turn for the better, situations seem to have worsened. When will it STOP?" Zoramthanga tweeted at 3:30 am on Tuesday.
The Mizoram CM's question came on a day one person died in firing by security forces in Thoubal district. The forces fired after a mob tried to enter a camp of the Indian Reserve Battalion at around 11.30 am on Tuesday.
The house of the leader of a Kuki insurgent group was burnt on Monday night.
Over 120 people have been killed and over 60,000 others have been displaced due to the clashes between the Meitei and the Kukis since May 3. Army and other security forces controlled the riot but sporadic incidents of firing and arson have kept the situation tense. Kuki organisations have claimed that most of those killed and displaced belong to Kukis-Hmar-Zomi communities.
Zoramthanga said nearly 12,000 internally displaced persons from Manipur have fled and taken shelter in Mizoram. Kukis are ethnically closer to the Mizos. The state has also provided shelters to nearly 40,000 "refugees" from neighbouring Myanmar and Banglesh, who fled due to conflicts there.
"I wish not to see anymore pictures and video clips of Churches being burnt, brutal killings and violence of all nature, regardless of gender and age. If there is ONLY one way of settling for peace, shall we opt for that? Many lives have been lost, bloodshed all over, physical torture & the victims are looking for refuge wherever possible. With no iota of doubt, those victims are my kin and kin, my own blood and should we quieten the situation by just being silent? I don't think so! I would like to call for immediate restoration of peace and normalcy," his tweet read.
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Sabka Saath Sabla Vikas:
In what appeared to be an inference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's role in controlling Manipur violence, Mizoram CM said, "It is incumbent and imperative upon those responsible and law-abiding citizens or entities of India to look for immediate ways for peace restoration. Development with a human touch and Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas applies to my Zo ethnic tribes in Manipur too."
Zoramthanga heads Mizo National Front (MNF), the party in power in Mizoram. MNF is also part of BJP-led NDA.
Manipur CM N Biren Singh recently talked to Zoramthanga seeking his assistance for restoration of peace and safety of the Meiteis living in Mizoram.