Editorial || When Killing Becomes the Only Way Their Suffering is Seen: The Unseen Plight of Kuki Villagers

The indiscriminate and targeted killings of ordinary Kuki civilians, regardless of their age, gender, physical and mental condition, residing in the bordering and core regions of Naga-dominated areas by armed insurgent groups present there, constitute an alarming humanitarian crisis amounting to a war against humanity that calls for immediate attention and response, rather than merely a news headline to reduce the gravity of the situation that people in these villages are subjected to live with.

Between March and July of 2026, they murdered 16 innocent ordinary Kukis, including women, religious leaders, and the elderly. And within a span of 3 days this month, another 6 were mercilessly murdered. Their victims include an unborn child and a pregnant woman.

When villagers are not killed, they are subjected to sudden attacks followed by the arson of Kuki villages and economic embargoes. They have to flee for their lives, and many a time they have to travel difficult terrain and mountains on foot to procure basic necessities to sustain their lives. Their lives and basic necessities are placed under threat.

The physical and psychological warfare that Kukis in these districts are subjected to live with makes no sense unless it is corroborated with an objective to forcibly evict them from a place they call home and a village where every nook and corner holds memories they hold dear. Any movement or cause that entails the killing, terrorising, and evicting of ordinary citizens to achieve their goal is simply too evil for it to have any space in society. Their exit from this world is a necessity for mankind to thrive peacefully.

The irony is that, even in this age and era, their suffering and plight catch the news headlines only when they are, unfortunately, murdered. Thousands of security forces deployed in the state, the country's premier intelligence agencies, and the double-engine government in the state and Centre seem helpless before this notorious outfit in ensuring their victims the right to live with dignity and security, without fear, with basic necessities, and in peace. To whom shall these innocent villagers seek help and protection if the system that should be responsible for them seems helpless?

To call the culprits unknown gunmen or armed miscreants is a disservice to the name NSCN-IM has infamously built for decades and an injustice to the victims. It is simply unimaginable to even think of a terror outfit operating as successfully as these culprits are in NSCN-IM's stronghold without their permission or complicity. They are, after all, one among the most feared insurgent groups in India and globally. Why would such a powerful outfit turn a blind eye to another terror outfit that can threaten their power in the future, to rise as dangerous as they are now, right under their nose? These culprits manage to evade premier agencies' and security agencies' strict scrutiny most of the time. The logic makes no sense unless NSCN-IM is withering internally beyond repair, which, going by the language they used in their recent PR releases and the ultimatum they gave to the GoI, tells otherwise. Thus, it is cowardly of concerned authorities to avoid taking their names as the culprits. A notorious outfit that has a history of indiscriminately committing atrocities towards women, children, and innocent people doesn’t deserve such discretion and protection.

Thus, it is time the government and security forces give the attention and resolve that their victims and their possible victims in the future deserve. They are human beings who have a family and loved ones whose roles as a mother, father, son, daughter, husband, wife, and friend are irreplaceable for their loved ones. Their fate after death deserves justice and not to be reduced to a statistical number. Ordinary citizens in the state pay the price of lawlessness and statelessness far too costly than they should.

The government and the institutions must not betray the faith and hope people have bestowed upon them, else there is a high possibility of its past efforts in eradicating insurgency in the state being in vain. The youth deserve a bright future, families deserve peace, and society deserves law and order.

Thus, anything that hinders the proactiveness of state agencies and security forces when it is executed in Kuki areas needs to be discarded, and the same proactiveness needs to be shown across the state. The partial proactiveness worsens the already deteriorating lawlessness in the state, and innocent ordinary Kukis pay the price of the unchecked armed insurgent activities in other districts. No agreement nor arrangement with any insurgent group should be given any precedence over ordinary people's lives.

It is the responsibility of the legislature, executive, and judiciary to ensure that every fundamental right endowed to the citizens of India by the Constitution is a reality for Kukis, not just a beautiful poem that has no value in reality. Their lives and rights matter!