Kuki Inpi demands separate union territory after alleged attack on two Manipur villages

The Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), the apex body representing the Kuki tribes, has alleged that Teikhang and Lenglong villages in Manipur's Noney district came under an attack on Wednesday afternoon, accusing Tangkhul-led factions of the NSCN (IM) and ZUF-K of carrying out arson and destruction. The organisation has sought immediate intervention from the Central Government while reiterating its demand for a separate Union Territory with Legislature for the Kuki-Zo community.

In a statement issued by its Information and Publicity Secretary, Kaybie Chongloi, KIM claimed that the attack occurred at around 2 pm and described it as a "catastrophic escalation" of the ongoing ethnic conflict in the state.

The organisation alleged that the assault formed part of a broader campaign aimed at strategically displacing Kuki-Zo communities and advancing the agenda of "Greater Nagalim" through violent land grabs and demographic changes in Kuki-Zo inhabited areas.

KIM further claimed that the destruction of the two villages reflected a complete failure of the state to protect its citizens, alleging that repeated attacks on Kuki-Zo frontier villages had exposed serious security lapses and deepened the internal security crisis in Manipur.

"The continued, systemic failure of the government to shield our frontier villages from heavily armed terrorist operations has crossed the line from institutional ineptitude into a grave internal security crisis," the organisation said in its statement.

Reiterating its longstanding political demand, KIM asserted that the recurring violence demonstrated that the Kuki-Zo people could no longer safely coexist under the existing administrative arrangement in Manipur. It renewed its call for a Separate Administration in the form of a Union Territory with Legislature under the Indian Constitution, describing the demand as an "existential imperative" for ensuring the security, dignity and long-term survival of the Kuki-Zo community.

The tribal body urged the Central Government to launch what it described as an immediate counter-terrorism offensive against NSCN (IM) and its alleged proxy groups, acknowledge what it termed the failure of the existing state structure, and expedite the constitutional process for the creation of a Union Territory with Legislature.