GUWAHATI: Meitei Heritage Welfare Foundation urged authorities to take immediate and decisive action against six Kuki-Zo groups, which warned Meiteis against visiting the Thangjing hills.
In a statement, the foundation said, "Meiteis had been going on an annual pilgrimage to the hilltop shrine of Ibudhou Thangjing, the 'guardian of the mountains' since ancient times".
“This illegal statement by the Chin-Kuki groups is akin to Hindus being stopped from making their pilgrimage to Kailash Parbat, or Muslims to Mecca. It also violates the fundamental right to freedom of movement and the right to religious practice,” the foundation said.
It viewed the threat issued by the Kuki-Zo groups as 'clearly designed' to engineer a fresh round of violence by provoking the Meiteis.
“Chin-Kuki militants and their frontal groups that call themselves ‘civil society organisations’ are desperate to keep the pot boiling,” the foundation said.
It also said that if there was peace in Manipur, then the separate land demand by the Chin-Kukis would lose relevance.
“This threat by the Chin-Kuki groups undermines efforts by the Ministry of Home Affairs to maintain peace and ensure talks. This audacity is a result of the prolonged inaction by both the Government of India and the Government of Manipur in addressing illegal and provocative acts,” the foundation said.
It urged authorities to send a strong message that such provocative actions would no longer be tolerated. Recently, the Kuki-Zo organisations asked Meiteis to refrain from entering Kuki-Zo areas by crossing the buffer zone.
“There is speculation that the Meitei community intends to cross the buffer zone for ‘Ching Kaba’ (annual mountain climbing cultural event) at Thangting or Thangjing Hills in April.
Until and unless a political settlement is reached by the Government of India for the Kuki-Zo community under the Constitution of India, no such friendly approach to the jurisdiction of Kuki-Zo land will be allowed to the Meitei community,” the organisations had stated in a joint statement.
On February 19 last year, the Manipur government stated, “Thangjing (Thang Ching) is a hill of historical importance because of which Government of Manipur had declared it as a protected site under section 4 of the Manipur Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1976, vide Gazette No.376 dated 14/11/2022.”