COCOMI Rejects PUCL's Independent People's Tribunal Report on Manipur, Calls it Biased and Misleading; Announces Future Course of Action

Rejecting the recently released Independent People's Tribunal (IPT) report of the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) has stated that the report is nothing but a biased, misleading, and politically engineered narrative that seeks to vilify the Meitei community while legitimizing the separatist aspirations of Chin-Kuki narco-terrorist groups.

In a detailed rebuttal to the tribunal report, COCOMI stated that they found the report to be misleading, engineered, and deliberately structured to appease separatist agendas. The Meitei body claimed that the contents reflect bias, selective omission, and fabrication—demonizing an entire community while shielding the role of narco-terrorist groups.

Stating that the PUCL-IPT report has no legitimacy or credibility, COCOMI asserted that it is rejected in its entirety by the people of Manipur, represented through COCOMI. The report, COCOMI said, does not serve the cause of peace, justice, or reconciliation. “Instead, it emboldens narco-terrorist groups and weakens national security,” the body added.

COCOMI claimed that there is misrepresentation regarding Meitei ST status on page 19 of the tribunal report, wherein it is claimed that the Manipur High Court directed the State Government to recommend ST status for the Meiteis to the Centre.

“This is patently false. The former Chief Justice himself has clarified multiple times that the High Court has no authority to direct the State in this matter. The Tribunal's framing is clearly designed to misinform,” the release added.

COCOMI further stated that page 20 of the report, which claims that “mobs rampaged through Kuki settlements in Imphal… retaliatory violence emerged against Meitei homes and properties in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi,” presents a false narrative about the outbreak of violence.
“The report is the complete opposite of verified facts. Photo and video records in the public domain confirm that the first incident of arson and mob violence occurred in Torbung-Kangvai, Churachandpur, where Meitei homes were torched in broad daylight. Videos of mobs emerging from Kangvai had gone viral for several hours,” it added.

COCOMI also recalled that the Vice President of India was in Imphal until noon on May 3, and no violence was reported until after his departure. Further, COCOMI stated that page 22 of the report presents a one-sided depiction of victimhood and deliberately endorses a separatist agenda.

On page 22, it is stated that Kuki-Zo communities were driven out of the valley and that Meitei communities left the hill areas. COCOMI argued that the report is consciously engineered to depict Kukis as the sole victims.

COCOMI claimed that Meiteis were the first to be driven out and attacked in Kangvai, forcing retaliation later. “By omitting such incidents, the tribunal shows clear bias,” the release stated, adding that the section titled “The outcome was de facto ethnic partition” echoes separatist narratives and seeks to legitimise the demand for separate administration. This is not fact-finding but a political endorsement disguised as a report,” COCOMI stated.

Stating that the tribunal generalises poppy cultivation as poverty-driven while deliberately overlooking the major players in narco-terrorism, the committee added that it is nothing short of justifying an illicit business.

The Meitei body also noted that the tribunal report makes no mention of Kuki-Chin armed groups involved in the violence, despite their own spokespersons admitting responsibility.

KNO spokesperson Seilen Haokip himself confessed on NE Live (interview with Wazbir Hussain) that SoO groups were involved. Yet, the Tribunal repeatedly mentions Arambai Tengol and Meitei Leepun while ignoring ITLF, COTU, Kuki Inpi, Kuki Students’ Organization, Kuki Women’s Association, and Kuki-Zo Council—all of whom control and direct militant activities in the hills, the release mentioned.

Even in incidents like the Jiribam Jakuradhop massacre—where 10 armed Kuki militants were killed while kidnapping six women and children—and in the forced disappearance of Linthoingambi, Himanjit, and Kamal Babu, the Tribunal deliberately avoided naming the Kuki groups responsible.

Adding that the tribunal report ends by declaring that differences are “unbridgeable,” COCOMI stated that such a remark is false, and that Imphal remains open.

COCOMI also claimed that many innocent civilians from Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Paite-Hmar-Thadou communities are already returning—except those being threatened by separatist groups not to resettle until their objective of separation is achieved.

The release further stated that the most glaring example of bias is found on page 58 of the tribunal’s report, which states that the relationship between Meiteis and the Indian State has always been contentious, unlike the Kuki-Zo, who were active in the independence movement as members of the INA and Congress.

“This is fabricated and misleading. While the Meiteis have consistently produced the highest number of Indian Army officers (proportionally, in the entire country), martyrs, and achievers on national and international platforms (Sports, Arts, Culture, Science, Technology)—the Tribunal demonises them as anti-State,” COCOMI stated.

The release continued, stating that the PUCL and its members cannot justify such falsehoods under the pretext of human rights. They must be held legally accountable for every baseless statement.
The suggestion made by the tribunal on page 103—that the State Government should consult stakeholders on granting ST status to communities—is constitutionally incorrect. ST status is granted by Parliament based on the recommendations of the Registrar General of India and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, not through local consultations, it added.

Arguing that there is a distortion of tribal histories on page 287 of the report, COCOMI stated that the report falsely claims: “The hill tribes are held to be alien… tribals dispute this narrative.”
By using the blanket term “tribals,” the tribunal deceptively includes Nagas—who have never subscribed to the Kuki-Zo narrative of historical migration and occupation.

Using such a blanket term is an intentional distortion meant to project legitimacy on behalf of Kuki-Zo separatist claims, says COCOMI. The Meitei body also announced its future course of action regarding the report and informed that there will be a public review. Every unfounded and defamatory statement against the Meitei community, every attempt to legitimise separatist aspirations, and every distortion of fact will be met with necessary legal action. PUCL and the so-called tribunal members will be held accountable under the law, stated the release.

COCOMI also announced its commitment to continue mobilising civil society, intellectuals, and legal experts to ensure that Manipur’s integrity and unity are not undermined by fabricated reports designed for international consumption and separatist propaganda.

PUCL must recognise that it is the Chin-Kuki narco-terrorist groups who have repeatedly confronted other communities over land encroachment and communal issues across the region, the release further stated.
“There has never been a single group that has engaged in conflict with almost every community, in every area, except them. If PUCL still chooses to side with these forces out of vested interests or to appease left-liberal establishments, it will stand to lose its remaining legitimacy and credibility,” says COCOMI.