Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday asked his Mizoram counterpart Lalduhoma to extend his support to solve the ongoing crisis in the state but not to interfere, in what he insisted, was the state’s “internal matter”.

“A state never interferes in the internal matters of others. For instance, when there was the Meitei issue in Assam, the request was made to Himantaji (Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma) to look into the matter as it was an internal matter,” Biren Singh said in his speech at the 84th Nupi Lal day at GP Women’s College hall in Imphal. On December 12, Manipur paid rich tributes to women freedom fighters who took part in the first and second Nupi Lal (women’s war) against the Britishers

Biren Singh pointed to a reported statement by Mizoram chief minister Lalduhoma that asked the Manipur police not to harass his people in Manipur’s Moreh. The Mizos in Mizoram and the Kukis in Manipur come from same ethnicity of Zo-Chin people who live between the hills of Manipur to the Chin state of Myanmar.

Singh said: “He may not know what actually happened on the ground at Moreh. People living in Moreh are citizens of Manipur whether they are Kuki, Naga, Meitei, Meitei-Pangal or whoever.”

The Manipur chief minister added that he was only trying to clarify the misunderstanding. ”So please lend support in solving the internal situation.”

“If he (Mizoram chief minister) interferes, it will be beyond his rights,” he added. “So I would like to make a humble appeal to extend support in restoring peace in my state.”

Singh added that he had been in touch with other chief ministers in the region on the situation in Manipur.

Manipur has been roiled by ethnic clashes between the Meiteis and the Kukis since May 3. The clashes have left at least 182 dead (excluding the 13 who died on Monday) and around 50,000 homeless. The largest single-day toll in the state before December 4 was reported on June 14, when nine people were shot dead in different areas of Kangpokpi district.