GUWAHATI: In what was described as a “historic” development, the Thadou Inpi Manipur, the apex civil society organisation representing the Thadou tribe, held a closed-door meeting with key Meitei groups in Imphal on Wednesday, marking the first time since the ethnic conflict that Thadou leaders have entered the Meitei-majority Imphal Valley.
The Meitei groups present included the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity, All Manipur United Clubs Organisation, Federation of Civil Society Organisations and Arambai Tenggol. The meeting also saw the participation of student and women leaders.
Although the details of the meeting were not made public, sources said the discussions allegedly centred on efforts to restore peace, rebuild inter-community relationships, and eliminate mistrust between the groups.
The meeting is being seen as a major step toward reconciliation in the wake of a violent ethnic conflict between the Meiteis and tribal Kukis that has, since May 2023, allegedly claimed more than 250 lives and displaced around 60,000 people internally.
The Thadous, who were also affected by the conflict, used the opportunity to clarify their identity. The Thadou Inpi Manipur, in a statement issued after the meeting, said the discussions were part of a “community understanding programme” between both sides.
The statement added that the Thadous, long considered part of the larger Kuki umbrella, are in fact a “distinct indigenous identity.”
“A major source of confusion between the Thadou tribe and those identifying as Kuki tribes arises from the similarities in attire and cultural expressions. However, it is crucial to understand that Thadou tribe is a distinct indigenous identity, while the Kuki nomenclature, as used today, has become a politicised and ideological label,” the organisation stated.
The group further claimed that the nomenclature ‘Kuki’ is not a genuine ethnic identity but a political construct. “Historically and culturally, there is no community known as ‘Kuki’ indigenous to Manipur,” the statement added.
According to the organisation, “The term Kuki has foreign origins, and those who adopt it today often do so to push a separatist and extremist ideology. Many who currently identify as Kuki are suspected illegal immigrants, having settled in Manipur in recent decades.”
The organisation also alleged that over time, church politics and religious affiliations contributed to the misclassification of many Thadou people under the Kuki label, thereby creating further confusion and undermining their true identity.
It warned that such misrepresentation posed a threat not only to the Thadou tribe but also to Meiteis, Meitei-Pangal, other tribal communities, and the unity of Manipur as a whole.