The continuing ethnic conflict in Manipur marks a year on Friday with the two warring communities as divided as ever and Prime Minister Narendra Modi yet to visit the BJP-ruled state.

The divide was reflected in the events scheduled by organisations representing the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities to observe the first anniversary of the conflagration.

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), an organisation representing Kuki-Zo tribes in Churachandpur district, planned to observe a “Kuki-Zo Awakening Day” to mark one year of “Meitei ethnic cleansing against Kuki-Zo”.

The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a conglomerate of influential Meitei organisations, has scheduled an event in Imphal on Friday to mark “365 days of Chin-Kuki narco-terrorist Aggression in Manipur”.

Mass prayers are to be held in every church and a condolence service at the Martyrs Cemetery as part of the ITLF event. Candles are to be lit in every household.

The ITLF has also called for a daylong shutdown on Friday and urged the Kuki-Zo to “hoist a black flag” at every house “as a mark of remembrance and solidarity”.

All business establishments, institutions and markets have been requested to remain closed on the anniversary “as a sign of respect and homage to our fallen heroes”.

The COCOMI event will attempt to highlight the nature and causes of the conflict and strive for a collective effort at its resolution, the organisation said.

On Thursday, the influential radical Metei group, Arambai Tenggol, signed a pact with the United National Liberation Front (Pambei faction), a valley-based insurgent group that had entered into a peace agreement with the Centre and the state government in November.

Thursday’s pact obligates the two groups to resolve any dispute between them that might arise while working on the ground, by setting up a working committee and establishing a hotline between their leaderships.

An Imphal resident said the two groups had also vowed to protect Manipur’s integrity unitedly.

The unrest has left at least 227 people dead and over 67,000 displaced. Members of the two communities cannot venture into each other’s territory even now.

The mostly Hindu Meiteis live mainly in the Imphal valley and the overwhelmingly Christian Kuki-Zo in the hills. Armed volunteers from both communities guard their respective areas.

Despite the heavy deployment of central forces, violence erupts at regular intervals, shattering the hopes of a truce anytime soon.

At an event held in Delhi on Thursday seeking justice for the Meiteis, it came to light that 31 community members were still missing since the violence began on May 3 last year.

“Their families continue to cling to hope, believing that their loved ones may still be alive,” the organiser of the event said.

On Thursday, an armed gang robbed the SBI’s Salbung branch in Churachandpur of around ₹20 lakh, the fourth bank robbery in the state since the outbreak of the conflict.