A file image of Kuki Students’ Organisation members protesting against the alleged genocide campaign against the Kuki-Zo.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Guwahati: Kuki-Zo Council, a newly formed umbrella body of Kuki-Zo communities, threatened to boycott Manipur government's recent move to set up "ad-hoc committees" for the autonomous district councils (ADCs) while calling for a Union Territory comprising Kuki-Zo dominated areas for restoring peace.
The council was recently formed by several civil society organisations representing the Kuki-Zo communities, in order to carry forward the process for initiating talks with the Centre for ending the Meitei-Kuki conflict.
Nearly 240 people have died due to the conflict since May last year.
"Any attempt to impose ADC elections or to allow select committee members to administer the councils on the Kuki-Zo people will be boycotted and sternly opposed unless our genuine demand for a separate administration in the form of a Union Territory with legislature is fulfilled," the council said in a statement.
"This move is widely viewed as a ploy to undermine the rights and voices indigenous tribal communities, casting a shadow of doubt over the intention of the state government," it said.
The reaction came after the Manipur government's recent decision to set up a 20-member "ad-hoc committees" for each ADC till elections for the councils are conducted. Elections for the autonomous district councils, mainly for the Kukis and Nagas, have remained pending for a long time. The move amid the Meitei-Kuki conflict has invited sharp reactions from the Kuki-Zo communities. Recently, at least 10 MLAs belonging to the Kuki-Zo communities also rejected the move and wrote to the Centre against it.
Coexistence impossible
Stating that justice to the Kuki-Zo communities under the current government is impossible, the council said that the only way to end the conflict and restore peace is to fulfill the demand by the Kuki-Zo organisations for a "separate administration" in the form of a Union Territory with a legislature. "The state sponsored violence has made it abundantly clear that peaceful co-existence is no longer possible within the current framework of Manipur. A separate administration is the only way to ensure the safety, dignity and future of the Kuki-Zo people," it said.