IMPHAL (The Thursday Times) — The Kuki-Zo Council in India’s Manipur has threatened to pull its MLAs out of the state government and urge Kuki-Zo armed groups to reconsider their truce with New Delhi, accusing the authorities of acting only when Meitei and Naga civilians are killed.
“Do Kuki-Zo lives matter? Are not we citizens of India, entitled to equal protection and justice?” the council said in a statement on Wednesday, renewing its demand for a separate Union Territory with its own legislature, The Indian Express reported. “This demand is not merely a political aspiration; it is a question of our very survival as a people.”
A raid after three killings
The warning follows renewed Meitei-Kuki tension after three Meitei men were killed near the Imphal East-Kangpokpi border on October 19. On October 23, security forces took over the designated Sinai camp at Saimol village in Kangpokpi, a camp of one of the groups under the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement, and arrested 17 people whose identities did not match the list of registered cadres. Officials said only one of the camp’s 159 registered members was present.
The council said there was no established link between the camp and the killings. It contrasted the raid with what it called inaction over violence it attributes to the Naga groups NSCN-IM and ZUF(K), which it says have killed 32 Kuki-Zo civilians and burned several villages since March, and questioned why NSCN-IM was allowed to operate in Manipur when its ceasefire with the Centre does not cover the state.
Three years of conflict
The council says more than 250 Kuki-Zo people have been killed and over 40,000 displaced since ethnic violence between the mainly Hindu Meitei majority and the largely Christian Kuki-Zo erupted in May 2023, after a court ordered the state to consider extending tribal benefits to Meiteis. The state remains split along ethnic lines, with buffer zones between the Imphal valley and the hills patrolled by federal forces.
“If the government fails to take concrete steps to ensure our security, deliver justice and advance a meaningful political solution, KZC will consider stronger political measures,” the council said, including withdrawing its MLAs and urging the SoO groups to rethink their cooperation.
