KOHUR Slams Home Minister's 'Silence' on UNC Blockade, Alleges Constitutional and Humanitarian Failure

The Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust (KOHUR) on Monday launched a scathing attack on Manipur's State Home Minister, accusing him of maintaining a "deafening silence" over the continuing economic blockade allegedly imposed by the United Naga Council (UNC) on key lifeline routes to Kuki-Zo areas, and termed the government's inaction a grave constitutional and humanitarian failure.

KOHUR alleged that the prolonged blockade has crippled the supply of food, fuel and medicines to Kuki-Zo inhabited regions, pushing already conflict-hit communities deeper into a humanitarian crisis.

The organisation asserted that an economic blockade is not a legitimate form of protest but amounts to "collective punishment" prohibited under international humanitarian norms, alleging that depriving an entire community of essential commodities violates the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

KOHUR claimed that essential commodities have either become unavailable or unaffordable, while medical supplies are critically short. It alleged that patients requiring emergency referrals have been stranded and that internally displaced persons, schoolchildren and the elderly are bearing the brunt of the crisis.

Holding the State Home Minister directly accountable for maintaining law and order, KOHUR alleged that the continued failure to clear the highways reflects a breach of the government's constitutional obligations.

The organisation further claimed that while blockades affecting other communities have historically invited swift government intervention, the alleged lack of response in the present case reinforces what it described as institutional discrimination against the Kuki-Zo people.

Issuing a five-point charter of demands, KOHUR called upon the State Home Minister to publicly condemn the blockade, direct the immediate clearance of all obstructed highways, initiate criminal proceedings against those enforcing the blockade, provide security escorts for convoys carrying essential supplies, and urged the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to intervene if the State Government remains unable or unwilling to discharge its constitutional responsibilities.

KOHUR also announced that it would place the matter before the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and relevant United Nations human rights mechanisms, citing its Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

The organisation said a government that watches its citizens "be starved and remains a spectator" forfeits its moral claim to govern.