Building Bridges in Manipur, India--July, 2011

Manipur is the state with the highest killing rate in India. Meiteis, Kukis and Nagas struggle with different political concerns, religions and living contexts. There are multiple insurgent groups and civil society groups that join heartily in the conflicts. I've been there a lot, initially working on Naga reconciliation efforts. Now I'm expanding to deal with the larger circle of conflict. I've been especially excited to connect with a new peacemaking network called the Peace Dialog Initiative (PDI). PDI is a network of Meiteis, Kukis and Nagas chaired by Deben Sharma, a delightful kindred spirit.

We met for two days in Imphal at the Krishna Consciousness Center. The first day was spent in making position statements with spokespeople from each of the conflicted ethnic groups. Then there were responses from each group. At the end of the day it would be easy to despair because positions were hard and fast and totally opposite. Because the issues had to do with identity the problems weren't solvable by finding a meeting point halfway.

I was given the responsibility of facilitating Day 2, trying to help participants find a way forward and conclude with some sense of hope. I began with a few educational pieces to help participants reframe the way they were looking at the conflict as defined by the position statements the day before. We tried to think "outside the box" those positions created and brainstorm in dialog with one another. The brainstorm was begun in pairs from different ethnic groups coming up with ideas for specific steps forward and picking the three best. Then the pairs formed fours, shared their ideas and picked the best three ideas. Then we made eights and picked the best three ideas. I gathered the refined list and grouped them into 6 categories. Then we had participants cluster around the category that most interested them. The new groups then worked up specific plans to turn the ideas into substantive programs the participating organizations could carry out.

After feeling frustrated and hopeless at the end of Day 1, the PDI participants finished Day 2 excited and with a specific work plan to advance peace and understanding in Manipur. We ended with an appreciation line including many hugs. There's still a long, long way to go in Manipur, but a key step in the journey is to give birth to hope for the people who will create the peace imperative.