CoTU Clarifies, Urges Liangmai Naga Council to Withdraw its Complaints

In an emphatic statement today, the Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) has reiterated its commitment to stand as a pillar for the minority voices in Manipur's Sadar Hills, particularly for the Kuki-Zo community. The COTU condemned what it describes as state-backed atrocities and systemic repression against the Kuki-Zo people, accusing the majority Meitei community of trampling the community’s basic rights to freedom and existence.

The COTU claims that, over the past 17 months, Kuki-Zo individuals have faced unrelenting racial profiling, religious persecution, and the calculated dismantling of their institutions. The committee alleges that these actions have been bolstered by the misuse of government machinery to impose a "fascist, nepotistic, and hegemonic" agenda. COTU directly blamed Manipur’s Chief Minister, Nongthombam Biren Singh, as the architect of what it terms an "ethnic cleansing campaign," arguing that he has mobilized state resources to carry out divisive and hostile acts against his own citizens.

Calling the situation a "political genocide in plain sight," COTU asserts that Mr. Singh is wholly unwelcome in Kuki-Zo areas, denouncing him as a symbol of intolerance and exclusion. The statement accuses him of manipulating Manipur’s pluralistic fabric to impose a narrow and exclusivist vision that isolates the Kuki-Zo community from their ancestral lands.

Addressing the Naga community’s recent neutral stance on the escalating ethnic conflict, COTU urged Manipur’s Naga leaders to remember their shared history with the Kuki-Zo community. COTU expressed disappointment but called for renewed unity, stressing that the same divisive tactics could be aimed at any tribal community. "It is our sincere call to our Manipur Naga brethren: resist the divisive influence of the majoritarian forces that seek to annihilate anyone outside their own ranks," COTU implored.

Furthermore, COTU urged the Liangmai Naga Council (LNC) to withdraw its recent complaints against the organization, directed to the President of India. Emphasizing that COTU stands for all tribal and minority rights, it invited LNC and other groups to join forces for a more united front against alleged abuses of state power.