The Kuki Inpi South-West Sadar Hills (KISWSH) accused Zeliangrong-Inpui groups and underground outfits of carrying out systematic intimidation, armed aggression, economic blockades and targeted attacks against Kuki villages, while warning that the Kuki community’s continued restraint “must not be mistaken for weakness.”
The organisation claimed it had consistently pursued peace-building efforts and dialogue with neighbouring Zeliangrong-Inpui village authorities since 2024, including consultations in Tupul, Khonglong and Waphong-Pungmon areas, to maintain communal harmony and prevent escalation of tensions.
The Kuki Inpi South-West Sadar Hills said it had also actively intervened to defuse land disputes involving Konsaram, Leilon Phanjang and Tangnom villages, asserting that every effort had been made to preserve peaceful coexistence despite “persistent aggression and targeted harassment” against Kuki communities.
Listing a series of incidents from September 2025 to March 2026, the KISWSH alleged repeated attacks on Kuki villages and civilians, including vandalism of village signboards, arson attacks on farm huts, intimidation of farmers, destruction of agricultural infrastructure, armed assaults using heavy firearms and explosives, and mob incursions into villages.
Among the most serious allegations, the body accused cadres linked to the “ZUF-Kamson faction” of carrying out coordinated arson attacks in Maolhang and Songjang Waphong areas, while also alleging that armed mobs from Waphong Inthan dismantled security shelters, sabotaged water supply infrastructure and damaged security vehicles in K. Songlung village.
The Kuki body further alleged that an unauthorised toll gate had been established by “elements from Ireng” along the strategic Kangpokpi–Churachandpur transit corridor, extorting Rs 500 per vehicle and the funds were being diverted to sustain underground outfits, including NSCN-IM, VBIGs and ZUF-Kamson cadres operating in the region.
Despite these developments, the organisation maintained that Kuki communities had deliberately avoided retaliatory action in order to prevent wider ethnic confrontation and maintain public order.
The KISWSH also accused sections of the Zeliangrong-Inpui community of issuing public calls for economic blockades against Kukis, including restrictions on food supplies and movement through Naga-administered areas, while simultaneously blocking key inter-village roads connecting Tingkai, Joujangtek and Khonglong-Khoripok.
It stated that the closure of alternate transit routes had effectively pushed Kuki villages into isolation but insisted that the community continued to exercise “maximum restraint” to avoid violent escalation.
Referring to the law-and-order crisis that followed the May 13, 2026 ambush incident, the organisation said it had publicly reassured neighbouring Zeliangrong-Inpui villagers not to flee their homes, maintaining that there was no communal conflict between the two communities.
However, it alleged that retaliatory civilian detentions took place in the aftermath of the incident and demanded the immediate release of detainees through mutual dialogue and restraint.
The Kuki body also strongly condemned what it described as attempts to implicate Lalboi Vaiphei, Chief of Leilon village, in the violence, asserting that he was not present in the area at the time of the incident and had “absolutely no complicity or involvement.”
Warning against the use of “Artificial Intelligence tools, fabricated evidence or digital manipulation” to falsely link the village chief to illegal activities, the organisation said any such attempts would invite rigorous legal prosecution under relevant laws.
The KISWSH accused certain groups of disseminating “communal propaganda” demanding the collective punishment and eradication of the Kuki-Zo community based on the alleged actions of a few individuals.
It urged both the Manipur government and law enforcement agencies to intervene immediately, investigate the incidents impartially and suppress what it termed as “dangerous and systematic injustices.”
“The patience and commitment to peaceful resolution of the Kukis must not be misinterpreted as a sign of weakness or vulnerability. To do so would be a grave miscalculation,” the statement asserted.
Calling for urgent collective intervention to prevent further deterioration of the situation, the KISWSH said sustainable peace could no longer remain the “unilateral burden” of the Kuki community alone and appealed to all stakeholders to match peace efforts with concrete action.
The Hills Journal
K. Salbung, Churachandpur
Manipur-795128
