Restoring lasting peace in Manipur will require patience, sustained dialogue and trust-building among communities, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said, noting that while violence is gradually easing, healing deeper social divisions will take more time.
Speaking after a recent visit to the state, Bhagwat said he had interacted with tribal leaders, social organisations and youth representatives across Manipur. He described the situation as primarily a law-and-order challenge that is “abating slowly” and could stabilise within about a year.
“But bridging the minds is a great task, and it will take time,” he said, emphasising that dialogue remains the only viable path to bring the opposing sides “to one page”. He added that the foundations for reconciliation already exist, saying, “That can be done, because basically the spirit is already there.”
Addressing a programme marking the centenary of the RSS on Sunday, Bhagwat referred to reconciliation efforts in other northeastern states. “We could do it in Arunachal, Meghalaya, we are doing it in Nagaland and other places,” he said, expressing confidence that peace would eventually return to Manipur, though he cautioned that it would “definitely take time”.
He also noted that the RSS operates around 100 shakhas in Manipur, indicating a sustained organisational presence that could support reconciliation efforts on the ground.
On the RSS’s relationship with the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bhagwat said the Sangh maintains organisational distance from all political parties. “We stay very distant from all BJP leaders,” he said, while acknowledging long-standing personal ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Dismissing speculation about strained relations, Bhagwat said such narratives should be ignored. The RSS, he added, does not conceal its relationships with any organisation and remains focused on its broader social and nation-building role.
