Khemchand reaches out to displaced Kukis, strikes right chord We are weary and long for normalcy to return : Kuki IDP

OSR/Correspondent
IMP/UKL, Dec 8: Conveying an unmistakable message of reconciliation and communal harmony, Yumnam Khemchand, a Meitei MLA and former Rural Development Minister  travelled to two Kuki villagers and interacted with displaced Kuki people.
This is the first time a Meitei legislator has gone to Kuki villages after the violent crisis erupted on May 3, 2023.  
Travelling to Litan, Ukhrul district, Khemchand interacted with Kuki villagers and inquired about their life and hardship faced in the past two years and a half.
He visited a Kuki relief camp at Litan Sareikhong Baptist Church and interacted with Kuki IDPs who fled their homes during the violence.
“With the coming of Christmas, we all should pray for the return of peace in the State,” Khemchand said.
He consoled the villagers and told them that the return of peace should be the primary target of all communities residing in the State.
One IDP said that they have been living in the relief camp under miserable conditions for almost three years.
Expressing strong desire to go back to their homes, the IDP urged the Government to facilitate their resettlement at the earliest.
The IDP, one among 505 inmates at Litan Sareikhong IDP Relief Camp extended his gratitude to the MLA for visiting them and said, ‘It has been almost three years since we took shelter at the Litan Sareikhong IDP camp. I appeal to the Government, we are weary and long for normalcy to return so that we can go back home at the earliest’.
Khemchand reminded the Kuki inmates at the relief camp that conflicts exist in every part of the world but it should not be allowed to hinder progress and development of the State.
“There are conflicts among different countries, there are conflicts among different communities, across the world. But, we should learn to live in harmony despite the existing differences. There should not be any hindrance in visiting each other's villages,” Khemchand added.
Khemchand said that as long as conflict reigns in the State and there are restrictions on movements, deve- lopment will always suffer.
He said, “We should not allow this conflict affect the future of our children. We, the elders, may have differences, but we should think about our children's future."
The MLA, in a gesture of reconciliation among all, gently cradled a baby girl while interacting  with the IDPs and villagers.
“Let us sit together and find an amicable  solution”, he said.
The MLA reaffirmed and committed to further carry out his peace mission across the State.
As former Rural Development Minister, Khemchand brought a package for construction of 7000 houses from the Centre for internally displaced persons.
He had also earlier organised a relief camp for internally displaced persons of Meitei community at Manipur College in Imphal for over seven months.
He helped the IDPs return to their houses in Serou and Sugnu villages.
Hopingson Shimray, State BJP vice president and prominent Tangkhul Naga leader who accompanied Yumnam Khemchand during the journey said that it was a remarkable gesture by Khemchand to travel to Kuki villages in the hills when everyone today is reluctant to venture into another community's area.
He said that Khemchand is the first BJP Meitei MLA to step into a Kuki relief camp.
Another Tangkhul Naga leader, Mark Luithing, former ADC Chairman, said that Khemchand is the first leader to start people to people contact after the May 2023 violence.
On the way to the Litan Sareikhong relief camp, Khemchand earlier interacted with Kuki villagers at Litan Bazar, as a gesture of strengthening  peace and harmony among all.
Later, the peace team of MLA Khemchand headed to Chassad in Kamjong district to spread the message of peace and love, coinciding with the Christmas season, in order to strengthen trust among all communities.
Yumnam Khemchand, a sportsman-turned-politician and the founder of Assam Taekwando Association in the neighbouring State, had also earlier served as the Speaker of Manipur Assembly.