The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) organized a rally to protect the integrity of Manipur and to counter the demand for a separate administration by the Kuki-Zo community today.
It’s one thing to oppose Kuki-Zo’s demands and desire Manipur’s integrity. The fact that the demonstrators are shouting to kill every Kuki and eliminate them from the soil of Manipur, however, is horrifying, said the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) on Friday.
In a statement issued today, the ITLF said: the student demonstrators are heard yelling slogans like “Kuki tumna hatkadabani Manipur dagi maru fangna muthatkadabani ema leibak Manipur na yaifare,” which translates to “all the Kukis in Manipur should be killed, eliminated, and cut into pieces, so that even their bones won’t be found in our motherland Manipur-very well!” in one of the widely shared videos on social media. In another slogan, they shouted “Kuki tumna hattri phai shanti leiroi,” which translates to “Until all Kukis are killed, there will be no peace.”
The demonstration held today reflects the views and attitudes of the majority of the Meitei, who want to exterminate and slaughter every Kuki-Zo in Manipur. It is obvious that the Kuki-Zo are not welcome in Manipur among the Meitei. They drove us away from the Imphal valley, killed over 200 of us, destroyed over 360 places of worship, burned over 7,000 homes, and made over 40,000 of us homeless, the ITLF said.
The Meitei wanted us eliminated from Manipur, and they have succeeded by driving us out of their territories, the ITLF alleged, stating that we are now physically and demographically divided. Any remaining Kuki-Zo in the Meitei territories were slaughtered mercilessly by the Meitei.
“It is evident that Kuki-Zo and Meitei cannot co-exist. We must be separated. Total separation is the only solution. Peace in Manipur will only come when this total separation is officially acknowledged and formalized by the central government.”
By granting us a separate administration in the shape of the UT with a legislature under Article 239A, justice will then be served for the Kuki-Zo, ITLF reiterated.
