Influential Kuki-Zo body announces social boycott of community MLAs joining Manipur government

The Lungthu Resolution, the statement noted, had been “collectively and unanimously adopted by the SoO groups, MLAs, and the KZC”, and resolved “not to participate in the formation of the Manipur Government in the absence of a written political commitment from both the Central and State Governments to support a negotiated political settlement—Union Territory with Legislature—under the Constitution of India”.

The KZC’s reaction marks a sharp escalation in tensions within Kuki-Zo politics, exposing the widening fault lines between elected representatives operating within the constitutional framework and influential civil society and armed group-backed platforms that have pushed for a separate political arrangement in the wake of the ethnic conflict.

Just hours before the oath-taking ceremony on Wednesday, the KZC had publicly warned Kuki MLAs against joining a “popular government” in Imphal, reiterating that the community’s priority remained a “political solution” rather than restoration of a state-level arrangement dominated by the valley-based Meitei political class. That warning appears to have gone unheeded, with at least one prominent Kuki face entering the government at the highest level.

Framing the issue in stark, conflict-era terms, the KZC statement said, “In the absence of any political solution to the ongoing ethnic conflict, the Meitei community—whose armed groups and institutions have been responsible for unspeakable suffering, violence, and persecution of the Kuki-Zo people—continue to remain our enemy”. It added that “by joining the formation of a Meitei-dominated government, these MLAs have effectively aligned themselves with our enemy, thereby betraying their own people and disregarding the immense pain and sacrifices endured by the Kuki-Zo community”.

Such language underlines the depth of mistrust that continues to define relations between the hill-based Kuki-Zo groups and the Meitei-dominated political establishment, even as New Delhi has pushed for the restoration of an elected government in the violence-hit state.

The KZC said it views the move by the MLAs as “a serious betrayal and a deliberate attempt to undermine the unity, sentiments, and collective political stand of the Kuki-Zo people”. It went on to announce punitive social measures, stating that the council “condemns in the strongest terms all Kuki-Zo MLAs who have participated in the formation of the Manipur Government and hereby declares a social boycott against them in all Kuki-Zo areas”.

‘Boycott until they refrain from participation’

“The Kuki-Zo people are urged not to cooperate or associate with them in any social, customary, or public matters. This boycott shall remain in force until they refrain from participation in the Manipur Government and realign themselves with the collective position of the Kuki-Zo people,” the statement said.

The development highlights the complex and often fraught nature of hill politics in Manipur, where civil society bodies and insurgent group-linked formations under Suspension of Operations (SoO) arrangements have traditionally had considerable influence on elected representatives. The current divergence is thus being perceived with some perplexity by the civil population.

For the new government, the inclusion of Kuki faces was projected as a step toward broader representation and reconciliation. However, the KZC’s call for a social boycott signals that, on the ground, legitimacy within the community remains deeply contested—and that the path from government formation to political settlement in Manipur’s hills is far from straightforward.