Imphal: Nearly three years after violence disrupted connectivity and eroded trust across Manipur’s hill and valley districts, CM Yumnam Khemchand Singh visited Senapati district on Friday by road via Kangpokpi, marking the symbolic reopening of the National Highway-2.The route, since the unrest of May 3, 2023, had remained inaccessible to people from the valley, especially the Meitei community.NH-2, cutting through Kangpokpi, has long served as a crucial artery linking Imphal to the hill districts and beyond. But in the aftermath of the 2023 conflict, the road bore witness to blockades, fear, and deepening divides between communities.Khemchand’s journey along this very stretch on Friday was the first after he became the CM and after nearly three years of conflict between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities. The CM’s convoy’s passage through Kangpokpi was seen as an attempt to restore confidence in the state’s most vital lifeline.Upon reaching Senapati, he was accorded a warm welcome by civil society organisations, tribal leaders, and officials at the district headquarters. He attended the reception ceremony organised by Senapati district frontal organisations. During the reception, the CM was accompanied by deputy chief minister Losii Dikho and MLAs Awangbow Newmai, Tongbram Robindro Singh and J Kumo Sha.The gathering began with a solemn prayer to honour the two young lives lost in the recent Tronglaobi blast in Bishnupur District.Addressing the gathering, Khemchand hailed the civil society organisations of Senapati, Mao and Kangpokpi for their unwavering support to the govt’s initiative to restore peace and normalcy.“First we are all Indians and then we are Manipuris,” he said, calling on the people to work together as a Manipuri and take the state to a new height of development.
