Ayesha Khatun, a social activist from Bengal who took part in the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Manipur, said she was surprised to see several people of Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities walking together and seeking peace in the strife-torn Northeast state.

Scenes of amity between the communities, otherwise caught in a bitter conflict since May 3 last year, are the best takeaways from the march, she told this newspaper on her return from Manipur.

“I went there to find out whether the deep divide among people still exists or they are aspiring for peace.... It gave me immense pleasure to witness some people from both communities in the Nyay Yatra who made it clear that they want peace in the beautiful state,” Ayesha said.

“I interacted with several participants in the rally, especially women, and they said they joined the rally as they wanted peace,” she added.

The 66-day Nyay Yatra started in Manipur on January 14 and will end in Mumbai after covering 6,713km and 15 states.

Rahul said that the Nyay Yatra was organised because Indians were now going through a period of great injustice — social, economic and political.

Ayesha, in her early 50s from Mohammadbazar in Birbhum district, decided to go to Manipur to see the situation on the ground after coming to know from the media about the conflict between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities. At least 202 have been killed in the violence and over 67,000 displaced in Manipur since May 3 last year.

Ayesha took a flight to Imphal early on Sunday, a few hours before the Rahul-led march got off to a rousing start from Imphal, the capital of Manipur.

Ayesha, who travelled over 100km on January 14 and 15 and covered the Yatra’s Manipur leg, said that those in the rally were not interested in recalling horrible experiences of the strife of the last eight months.

“A local youth helped me identify people of two communities in the Yatra. I interacted with them and most of those willing to speak said they wanted peace in the state, both in the hills and valley,” said the activist, who worked in Bengal and Jharkhand
advocating women’s rights and empowerment in rural Bengal. She said she decided to go to Manipur because women of both communities were at the receiving end of violence.

The Yatra that began from Imphal Valley, an area with mostly Meiteis, covered several strife-torn pockets, including Kuki-Zo-dominated Kangpokpi, where people from different tribal communities welcomed Rahul, Ayesha said.

Despite the gloom, there was hope, she said.

“Yes, signs of violence were everywhere. I saw glum faces and burnt homes. But several women told me they wanted peace.... It was good to see they understood how divisive forces damaged their lives in the past eight months,” she said.