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Calling the ongoing crisis in Manipur "premeditated" and "state-sponsored", representatives from the Kuki-Zo communities on Thursday demanded that a separate Union Territory with legislature should be carved out of the ethnic strife-torn state.
At a press conference organised by Kuki Students' Organisation Delhi and NCR in New Delhi, representatives from Kuki-Zo communities said their demands have crossed the point where they wanted President's rule to be imposed in the state, and now they see a Union Territory with legislature on the lines of Puducherry carved out of Manipur as the only solution to the ongoing strife.
"The ongoing crisis in the Manipur region is a premeditated state-sponsored effort to target and eliminate the Kuki-Zo community.... and this has led to the displacement of over 41,000 people, the destruction of more than 200 Kuki-Zo villages, and the loss of 191 lives, including cases of brutal rape and murder of women, and the immolation and mutilation of Kuki-Zo victims including children," the KSO claimed.
Referring to a purported audio clip of Manipur chief minister which the state government has dismissed as being "doctored", it said, "The leaked audio of N Biren Singh is irrefutable evidence that explains the whole gamut of the Manipur crisis..."
"It is the ultimate resolve of the Kuki-Zo people that the only justice for the immeasurable harm and destruction inflicted upon our community is a separate administration - a Union territory with legislature," the KSO demanded.
"It is our most earnest appeal to the government of India to expedite a political solution for the Kuki-Zo people in the interest of justice and the integrity of our democratic institutions," it said.
Asked if the Kuki-Zo groups have received any response from the state or the Centre over their demand for separate administration, Janghaolun Haokip, secretary (information & publicity) of Kuki Inpi Manipur, said they have not.
Mang Khongsai, 'home secretary' of KSO GHQ, said the settlements of Kuki-Zo community members in the hilly areas of Manipur have also been targeted in the name of removing encroachment.
"There is destruction of Kuki settlements which is being called illegal encroachment, even though they have been living there for years. Demeaning terms like refugee, illegal immigrant and narco-terrorist are being used against Kuki-Zo people," he alleged.
Michael Haokip, an assistant professor at the Ambedkar University here, meanwhile said the Kuki tribe has found mention even in the Buddhist texts, and dismissed the allegation of the groups being immigrants.
"We are not immigrants. We have been mentioned in Buddhist and Sanskrit literature as well," he said.
Tingbem Khongsai, spokesperson of KSO Delhi and NCR said the country turned its attention on Manipur only after videos of women being paraded naked surfaced.
Ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3, 2023 after a tribal solidarity march was taken out in the hill districts of the state to protest against the majority Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status.
Since then, more than 220 people, including members of both communities and security personnel, have been killed in the continuing violence.
The KSO had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently demanding a separate administration for the Kuki-Zo tribal communities in Manipur and opposed the Centre's decision to withdraw the Assam Rifles from the buffer zones in the northeastern state.