In strife-hit Manipur, Meitei, Kuki groups protest seeking Parliament ‘intervention’

In the state capital Imphal, Meitei women vendors converged under the Khwairamband Ima Keithel Coordinating Committee for Peace at Khwairamband Bazar and began marching towards the Manipur Raj Bhavan and the chief minister’s bungalow to push for their demands.

The outfit was protesting against the Kuki-Zo’s demand for a separate Union Territory and also voiced its concerns over possible security crackdown in the state.

After they were intercepted near Kangla Fort, the protesters returned to the market and held a sit-in there.

Huirem Binodini, co-convenor of the Peace Committee, questioned the “silence” of Manipur’s elected legislators over the current turmoil.

“Our representatives have failed to raise their voices for the people they are supposed to serve. Their silence is a grave disservice to the citizens of Manipur living in fear and uncertainty,” Binodini said, adding that the people of Manipur “would separate themselves from India” if the government “failed” to resolve the ongoing crisis as soon as possible.

In the hill districts, the umbrella Kuki-Zo outfit the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) spearheaded the protest for a “quick political solution” to the strife. “Keeping in mind the realities on the ground and safeguarding the rights of all citizens to live a safe and dignified life, Suspension of Operation (SoO) groups from Kuki-Zo tribes have already submitted political demands, asking for a Union Territory with a legislature under Article 239(A) of the Indian Constitution,” the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) said in a statement.

Justifying its demand for a separate UT, the ITLF said if the Kuki-Zo were to return to a state dispensation “controlled by the Majority (read Meitei)”, they would be “subjected to open hostility and discrimination—a new-age Apartheid”.

It added: “The Majority community has cut off their supplies of all goods, including essential items for over a year”.