Manipur: Kuki group disputes NSCN-IM account of four deaths, seeks independent probe

The Village Volunteer Eastern Zone (VVEZ), Kuki-Zo-Gam, has rejected recent remarks by NSCN-IM functionary Leisan Asa, Secretary of the Wung Tangkhul Region, GPRN, asserting that the Kuki community respects Naga political aspirations but will not accept any political settlement involving what it describes as Kuki ancestral land.

In a statement issued in response to Asa's remarks, the VVEZ said the Kuki community had no objection to the political aspirations of the Naga people, but maintained that such aspirations should not extend to Kuki ancestral areas.

“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 referred to the Kuki-Tangkhul conflict of the 1990s, alleging that the violence led to the destruction and abandonment of several Kuki villages and settlements.

It said its demand was not for land belonging to another community, but for the restoration and reclamation of what it described as Kuki ancestral villages and lands lost during the conflict.

The organisation also said its demand for a Union Territory with a legislature comprising Kuki ancestral areas was an independent political demand of the Kuki community and was neither directed against nor formulated at the behest of 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.

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

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

The allegations could not be independently verified.

The VVEZ said the identities, affiliations, movements and activities of the four deceased persons should be independently investigated by the competent authorities. It claimed to have information and supporting material concerning the four and said it could release further documentary evidence.

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

Reiterating its position on the land issue, the VVEZ said the Kuki community was not seeking territory belonging to other communities but would not give up what it described as its ancestral lands, historical villages and political aspirations.

It also said that no organisation could determine the political future of another community or claim territorial entitlement over Kuki ancestral areas.

The VVEZ called on stakeholders to address competing political and territorial claims through political and democratic processes and urged them to take historical claims into account while engaging in the ongoing discourse.