New Delhi:
Members of the Kuki and Zomi tribes and the Meitei community held separate demonstrations at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Saturday to mark the completion of two years since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3, 2023.
Dressed in black, the Kuki protesters mourned the loss of those killed in the violence and reiterated their demand for a separate administration for their community.
The protest was organised by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) and the Kuki-Zo Women’s Forum, Delhi (KZWFD).
The protesters raised their demands, including the creation of a separate administrative set-up for the Kuki tribes due to their concerns about safety, displacement and lack of justice.
“We have been asking the government to give us a solution, let us live a normal life like people in any other state,” said Gladdy Vaipay Honjan, a Kuki activist in Delhi.
She said the community continues to suffer even after two years, with no justice for the violence, displacements and destruction.
Members of the Kuki tribes protest in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar
The protesters observed a moment of silence for those killed and displaced, and held placards that read, “Freedom’s call: Separate administration” and “No justice, no peace”.
The Meitei protesters, dressed in white, gathered under the banner of the Delhi Meitei Coordinating Committee.
They demanded justice, rehabilitation and a safe return of all internally-displaced persons to their original homes.
Their demands included ending cross-border terrorism, withdrawal of support to armed groups under the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement and the removal of buffer zones dividing communities.
RK Khaidasana, a Meitei protester from Churachandpur in Manipur, shared his experience of the crisis.
“Since May 3, 2023, I have been displaced from my home and I want to go back and resettle. I urge the government to give us justice,” he said.
“Around 4:30 pm (On May 3, 2023), violence broke out in our area, houses were set on fire and people fled for safety,” he added.
Both groups emphasised the need for a long-term solution to the ongoing ethnic tensions in the northeastern state.
More than 260 people have been killed and thousands left homeless in the violence between the Meiteis and Kukis in Manipur since May 2023.
The valley-dominant Meitei community and over a dozen distinct tribes collectively known as Kukis, who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, have been fighting over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation. Over 260 have died in the violence and nearly 50,000 have been internally displaced.
