GUWAHATI: Monday's planned release of 14 Kuki civilians in Manipur, who were being held captive by the "Naga Village Guard-Northern Command", was cancelled following protests by a section of the Naga community.
“Considering the prevailing sentiments of the Naga public, the proposed release of the 14 Kuki detainees, earlier scheduled at 2 pm on June 1, 2026, hereby stands cancelled,” the United Naga Council (UNC), which is Manipur’s apex Naga organisation, said in a statement.
The UNC had announced through a statement earlier in the day about the scheduled release of the 14 Kuki civilians. It stated that the persons were being released in view of appeals made by various organisations and assurances given by the Centre and Manipur government on tracing six abducted Nagas and taking action against those responsible for their abduction.
This position, however, ruffled the feathers of a section of Nagas. Protestors stormed the UNC office in Senapati. Elsewhere in the district, they vented their ire by burning tyres and shouting slogans.
On May 13, three church leaders from the Thadou community were killed by unidentified gunmen in an ambush in Kangpokpi district. Later that day, different groups abducted Kuki and Naga individuals from different places in the state. On May 15, Nagas released 14 Kukis, and similarly, Kukis released 14 Nagas.
Fourteen other Kukis continued to remain in the custody of their Naga captors, while the status of the six abducted Nagas remained unknown.
Last week, Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh stated that the National Investigation Agency would probe the cases relating to the abduction of the six Naga villagers and the killings of the three church leaders.
Meanwhile, the CMs of Nagaland and Meghalaya appealed for the early release of the six Naga and 14 Kuki civilians.
In a letter to the UNC, Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio said he had, during a telephonic conversation with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, requested his personal intervention in tracing the six Nagas, securing their release and bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Meghalaya CM Conrad K Sangma said he, as the president of the National People’s Party as well as a fellow citizen and Christian, was deeply pained by the continued captivity of the civilians.
“The abduction of civilians who have no role in any conflict inflicts unbearable pain and deepens divisions within our society. Mothers, children, and elders are living in fear and uncertainty. Such acts only widen the gap between communities that have lived together for generations,” Sangma wrote in a letter addressed to the UNC and the Kuki Inpi Manipur.
