Civil society groups have stepped forward to end the quagmire in Manipur, wrest the initiative for future policies from armed actors (belonging to the State and other groups) by increase democratic participation as well as creation of awareness of the situation across India. An invitation.

Related Links
6 years of Hunger Strike
Sharmila Confined to Solitary Existence
Repeal Armed Forces Special Powers Act
HR Group Recommends End to AFSPA

Dear Friends

Greetings from the People from Manipur
It is with a great pleasure and high hopes that are seeking to reach out to you through this letter. We, at PIPM, are a forum of civil society members from all walks of life across different ethnic groups, individual as well as institutional, who love the people of Manipur, people of India, and are striving to bring back PEACE in the troubled state of Manipur. In our efforts, we supported by several human rights groups civil society organisations, such as IPAC Delhi, Sampark Mumbai and many others.

As you know, the State of Manipur has been in a difficult situation for more than forty years. As such the entire North East region has seen a lot of violence, the people in State of Manipur in particular have been under constant threat of outbursts of violence, deriving both from the excesses of security forces and unbridled growth of insurgent groups. Civil society and civilians are very often directly targeted by the armed actors, based on the assumption that they are siding with ´the other party`. As a result democratic and human rights, as enshrined in the Indian constitution, have been under severe stress for more than two generations!

As the situation stand today, the situation in Manipur appears in a quagmire, a deadlock. In order to overcome this deadlock, some hopeful developments are taking place gradually; and the formation of PIPM is one of such steps undertaken by the civil society in Manipur. In November 2007, PIPM came out with a declaration for peace in Manipur. The launch of declaration was attended by more than 600 people. Supported by various religious leaders, academics, and representatives of popular organisations, we presented the statement publicly. For us it was an inspiring act, but only the first step.

PIPM is now looking for support for its mission in Manipur from amongst mainland India´s political actors and civil society organisations. At the same time the PIPM strategy is to raise the awareness within the country to enlist support of common citizens so that they can also become part and parcel of a real peace process in Manipur. In order to pursue this quest, we are organisinga Round Table on the issues of Manipur on 15th April 2008 in Delhi, and invite you to contribute your views and support so that we can find some starting point for bringing lasting peace in Manipur.

The process is expected to develop greater solidarity and strength for the civil society in the North East from those in mainland India. It is hoped that during this meeting, the civil society representatives, bureaucrats, state actors and others eminent citizens from Delhi will get an opportunity to interact and understand the situation in the Manipur.

The discussions and recommendations of the meeting will be taken to the Prime Minister of India and other political leaders from Congress, BJP, CPI, and CPI (M) etc. to strengthen the efforts of the civil society organizations for peace building.

The Venue of the Meeting is Deputy Chairman’s Hall, Constitution Club New Delhi. We hope to start the meeting at 11.00 am and conclude it by 04.30 pm.

Looking forward to your early confirmation

With regards

Yours sincerely

Nobo Kishore
PIPM

PEOPLES INITIATIVE FOR PEACE MANIPUR (PIPM)
Chingmeirong East, Imphal 795001 Manipur
Tel: 0385 – 2421053, 2321368, Mobile: 9862633970
Email: pipmanipur@gmail.com