GUWAHATI: Manipur’s Kuki-Zo organisation Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) said no free movement would be permitted in Kuki-Zo areas until a resolution that respects the community’s aspirations is reached.
The decision is part of an “eight-point charter of resolution” adopted at an event on Monday. The resolution followed Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s directive to security agencies to ensure free movement for people on all roads in Manipur from March 8.
Chairing a high-level review meeting on the Manipur security situation in New Delhi on March 1, Shah had also directed that strict action should be taken against anyone attempting to create obstructions.
The meeting was attended by Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Union Home Secretary, Director of Intelligence Bureau, Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Army Commander of Eastern Command, Directors General of BSF, CRPF and Assam Rifles, Security Advisor, Manipur and senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Army and Manipur administration.
Manipur has remained ethnically partitioned ever since the eruption of ethnic violence on May 3, 2023.
COTU said Kuki-Zo tribals would persist until separate administration is achieved, with no compromise or surrender and that the fight for it would continue through mobilisation, protests, and democratic resistance.
Elaborating, the organisation said the demand for separate administration as a Union Territory with legislature is non-negotiable. COTU also demanded that the governor withdraw his remarks against separate administration, as his engagement with Arambai Tenggol does not dictate the community’s future. Arambai Tenggol is a Meitei radical group.
COTU warned that any individual prioritising personal interests over the collective cause or aligning with the government would be deemed a traitor. Further, it warned against the arrest of Kuki-Zo volunteers.
If the government imposes peace without addressing the Kuki-Zo political issue, a complete and irreversible boycott of the ruling government will be enforced,the organisation said.