Kuki Group Hits Back at NSCN-IM, Rejects ‘Pilong Victims’ Narrative; Asserts Ancestral Land, Political Rights

The Village Volunteer Eastern Zone (VVEZ), Kuki-Zo-Gam, has strongly rejected a recent statement by NSCN-IM functionary Leisan Asa, Secretary of the Wung Tangkhul Region, GPRN, asserting that the Kuki people have no objection to Naga political aspirations but would not accept any claim or settlement involving their ancestral lands.

In a rebuttal, the VVEZ said the Kuki community respects the political aspirations of other communities and expects the same recognition for its own ancestral land and political rights.

“The Kuki people have no objection to the political aspirations of the Naga people. However, no political movement or settlement can legitimately extend to the encroachment upon or appropriation of Kuki ancestral lands,” the organisation said.

The VVEZ also invoked the legacy of the violent Kuki-Tangkhul conflict of the 1990s, alleging that the violence resulted in the destruction, abandonment and loss of several Kuki villages and ancestral settlements.

It said its demand was not for land belonging to any other community but for the restoration and reclamation of Kuki ancestral villages and lands which, it claimed, were lost during the conflict.

The organisation further asserted that its demand for a Union Territory with a Legislature comprising Kuki ancestral areas was an independent political demand of the Kuki people and was neither formulated against nor dictated by the NSCN-IM.

“Attempts to mischaracterise or obstruct this political demand will not alter our position. The Kuki people will continue to pursue their legitimate political aspirations through lawful and democratic means,” it said.

On the deaths of four alleged NSCN-IM cadres, the VVEZ disputed the NSCN-IM's account that the deceased were innocent civilians from Pilong village.

The organisation claimed that none of the four belonged to Pilong village and alleged that they were transporters associated with a narcotics network operating in Kamjong district and linked to a person described by it as the second-in-command of the NSCN-IM Phungtha Brigade.

The VVEZ stressed that the allegations should be independently investigated and verified by the competent authorities.

It claimed to possess information and supporting material relating to the identities, affiliations, movements and activities of the four deceased persons and said it reserved the right to release further documentary evidence.

The group also called for greater scrutiny of alleged links between armed organisations and illicit networks, saying such allegations should be addressed through “credible investigation, transparency and accountability” rather than political statements.

Reiterating its position, the VVEZ said the Kuki people were not seeking land belonging to other communities but would not surrender what it described as their ancestral land, historical villages or political aspirations.

“No organisation has the authority to dictate the political future of another community or to claim territorial entitlement over the ancestral lands of the Kuki people,” it said.

The VVEZ urged all stakeholders to engage with historical facts responsibly and resolve competing political claims through legitimate political and democratic processes rather than what it described as intimidation or distortion.