Manipur CM’s proposed Tengnoupal visit faces opposition from Kuki-Zo volunteers, who say no Meitei individual will be allowed to cross the buffer zone.
BY PC Bureau
August `14, 2026: A Kuki-Zo village volunteer group has warned against any proposed visit by Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh to Tengnoupal district, saying any attempt by Meitei individuals to cross the existing buffer zone could face resistance.
The Village Volunteers of the Eastern Zone (VVEZ), in a strongly worded statement dated April 13, expressed “strong disappointment” over reports of the Chief Minister’s proposed visit and reiterated its demand for a separate administration for Kuki-Zo areas.
The group said no Meitei individual would be allowed to cross the buffer zone separating what it described as “Kangleipak (Meitei Land)” from Tengnoupal, which it referred to as “Kuki land”, until the Centre formally recognises the separation and grants a Union Territory with a legislature.
Issued under reference number VVEZ-PR/042/04-26 by the organisation’s Information & Publicity wing, the statement carried the slogan “In defence of our Ancestral land”.
‘TENGNOUPAL IS NOT KANGPOKPI’
The group directly warned Khemchand and his associates against attempting to enter the area.
“Tengnoupal is not Kangpokpi. Here, the Kuki people stand firmly united, and any attempt at intimidation or coercion will be met with resolute resistance,” it said.
The VVEZ also claimed that pressure tactics allegedly used in Kangpokpi would not work in Tengnoupal.
It warned that proceeding with the proposed visit despite what it described as the “prevailing ground realities and the sentiments of the people” could result in “serious and unavoidable consequences”.
The organisation said responsibility for any such outcome would rest with those who ignored its warning and the position it claimed was held by local residents.
READ: SC Quashes Proceedings Against Rahul Gandhi in Savarkar Case
BUFFER ZONES REMAIN SENSITIVE
The warning comes amid the continuing ethnic divide in Manipur following the violence that erupted in May 2023. Buffer zones have since been maintained at several points separating Meitei-majority valley areas from Kuki-Zo-inhabited hill regions.
Tengnoupal remains one of the sensitive areas affected by the wider conflict and has featured in the competing territorial and administrative claims advanced by Meitei and Kuki-Zo groups.
Various Kuki-Zo organisations have continued to demand a separate administration for areas they consider their traditional homeland, while the Manipur government has opposed territorial separation.
There was no immediate official response from the Manipur government or the Chief Minister’s Office to the VVEZ statement.
The warning highlights the continuing security and political challenges surrounding visits by senior government leaders to areas divided by the conflict, with movement across buffer zones remaining highly sensitive more than three years after the violence began.
