The Kuki Inpi Manipur, the apex body of the Kuki tribes strongly slammed the recent statement of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on the formation of an all-tribe committee to decide on whether the Chin-Kuki community would be deleted from the Scheduled Tribes list of the State.
KIM Information & Publicity Secretary, Janghaolun Haokip said that the Chief Minister's statement amidst the state reeling under a communal crisis is an outright indication of the communal dispensation and antagonism of the Meitei led Manipur State Government against the Kuki-Zo people.
He said that the interminable attempt to distort the glorious history and identity of the Kuki-Zo people by the Manipur state government is most regrettable and demands an apposite redressal.
He maintained that the continued aggression and hostility of the Radical Meiteis is similarly a continued effort to further suppress the Kuki-Zo people against their rights and privileges.
"In fact, the conspiracy of the Manipur State Government and the radical Meiteis for the removal of Kuki-Chin Tribe from ST list is just one in a series of ridiculous agendas to demean, distort, and discredit the Kuki-Zo people for further political alienation; social discrimination, and economic exploitation of our people", Haokip asserted.
It is on record that this unscrupulous agenda has led to the barbaric torture, rape and killing of the Kuki-Zo people with the ruthless destruction of their homes and families, he added.
He also said that while the Kuki-Zo people have shown true commitment to the constitutional values and principles, and thereby duly abide with the constitutional leadership, the Kuki-Zo people will not tolerate any attempt to compromise the dignity and sanctity of our history and identity.
The Kuki Inpi Manipur appealed to the Central Government for due consultation and contemplation on the issue to put an end to the ruthless oppression of the minority Kuki-Zo community by the majority Meiteis and therefore also an end to the ongoing ethnic conflict in the region that has crippled the lives of thousands of good citizens of the country.
The Hills Journal
K. Salbung, Churachandpur
Manipur-795128