Kuki-Zo community marks 29th Separation Day with renewed call for separate administration

The Kuki-Zo community observed the 29th Separation Day on October 3 at the Martyr's Cemetery Phaijang in Sadar Hills, Kangpokpi District, reaffirming their demand for separate administration from Manipur with a 12-hour total shutdown and solemn commemorations.

 

The event, marked by floral tributes and gun salutes, saw the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) urging the community's 10 MLAs to maintain their boycott of the Manipur Legislative Assembly until the Government of India addresses their political demands.

 

CoTU reaffirmed the eight-point public resolution adopted on the 22nd Remembrance Day, asserting that "no Kuki Zo would remain complacent in our movement until our political aspirations are fulfilled by the Government of India."

 

The resolution outlines several non-negotiable positions. The community declared there would be no free movement for the Meitei community in Kuki-Zo inhabited areas and pledged to use democratic means to achieve their goal of separate administration.

 

Leaders emphasised that Kuki-Zo representatives must not engage with Meitei-dominated political platforms or the state government for personal gains. They pointed to the Governor of Manipur's dialogue with the Arambai Tenggol, describing it as legitimizing radical groups and strengthening the case for buffer zones between communities.

 

The resolution also addressed security concerns, stating that any arrests of village volunteers must result in their safe and unconditional release. CoTU rejected what they termed "forced normalisations" through people-to-people contact or dialogue initiatives without first resolving security issues and discriminatory policies.

 

Most significantly, the gathering declared: "At no point of time, no Kuki-Zo individuals, leaders, or organisations should ever delegitimised or compromised the demand for Separate Administration under Article 329A of the Constitution of India, preferably in the form of Union Territory with Legislature or nothing else."

 

The Committee on Tribal Unity issued a stark warning to community members not to engage with what it described as "predators of our women; mythomaniacs infidels and perpetrators of mass genocide of the Kuki-Zo until the right time to engage with them."