Ashish Pandey 
Imphal:
The Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) in a statement said it has received positively the government’s imposition of President’s Rule in the violence-hit state, and the move will help pave the way for political settlements and peaceful coexistence.
“We are hopeful it (President’s Rule) would pave the way for due political settlements and peaceful coexistence (of Meitei and Kuki-Zo-Hmar tribals) as good neighbours,” KZC secretary (information) Khaikhohauh Gangte said.
Referring to comments by BJP’s northeast incharge Sambit Patra that Manipur’s territorial integrity will not be touched, the KZC in a statement said, “Patra may be unaware or has chosen not to be aware that Meitei physically violated Manipur’s territorial integrity on May 3, 2023, when they massacred, attacked church buildings, destroyed the homes, and forcefully displaced the Kuki-Zo people from the Imphal valley.”
The KZC alleged the government led by former chief minister N Biren Singh carried out “ethnic cleansing”, which led to the separation of Kuki-Zo tribes and the valley-dominant Meiteis demographically and physically.
“Kuki-Zo are not separatists, Meiteis have separated Kuki-Zo from Manipur. More than 250 Kuki-Zo people have died in this ethnic conflict, over 7,000 Kuki-Zo homes have been destroyed, more than 360 places of worship have been set on fire or destroyed, and more than 40,000 Kuki-Zo people have become homeless,” the KZC said in the statement.
Mr Patra in Imphal on Friday said the 60-member state assembly was put under suspended animation, meaning the assembly can be revived whenever the President deems it fit.
“The BJP government is committed to continuing peace efforts in the state and to maintain the territorial integrity of Manipur. There would be no compromise on the territorial integrity of the state. Illegal infiltration into Manipur would not be allowed in any circumstances and such attempts would be dealt with severely,” Mr Patra had told reporters.
Speculation is that the BJP is trying to choose a leader who will be acceptable among all communities – Kuki-Zo-Hmar, Naga tribes, and the non-tribal Meiteis. The Kuki tribes and the Meiteis have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation.
Separate Administration Demand
Kuki groups, including militant organisations that represent their tribes and that signed the controversial suspension of operations (SoO) agreement with the Centre and the state government, have pointed at the ethnic clashes as the reason why they escalated their demand from an autonomous council to a separate administration, or a Union Territory with an assembly.
The World Kuki-Zo Intellectual Council (WKZIC), however, in a memorandum to Manipur’s new Governor on January 15 said the Kuki tribes have been demanding a state “since 1946-47.”
The internally displaced people from both communities are yet to return home.
Kuki leaders have said a “political solution” in the form of a separate administration should be discussed first before any other issues, including the return of thousands of people living in relief camps.
Meitei leaders have, however, cited this condition placed by the Kuki leaders as a deceitful attempt to set up a narrative for an ethnocentric homeland demand; the Meitei leaders’ argument is that talks can go on while at the same time people living in difficult conditions in the camps can also return home since no territory is ethnic exclusive.
The demand for an ethnocentric homeland is untenable and obsolete in Manipur, where at least 35 communities co-exist, a group of activists and academics from the violence-hit state bordering Myanmar had said at a side event of the 57th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva in October.
Over 250 have died and 60,000 have been internally displaced in the Manipur clashes.
