Invoking Article 21, Kuki Inpi Manipur said prolonged insecurity and alleged restrictions on essential supplies threaten the community’s rights to life, liberty and dignity.
BY PC Bureau
September 5, 2September 5, 2026: The Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) has condemned the ongoing session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly, accusing the House of ignoring atrocities against the Kuki-Zo community and questioning the state government’s authority to represent them.
The eighth session of the Assembly began on September 2, 2026. KIM said it had instructed Kuki-Zo legislators to boycott the session to avoid lending an impression of normalcy amid the continuing conflict. Despite the boycott, the House proceeded with its business.
The apex Kuki body accused the Assembly of pursuing what it described as majoritarian measures, including an updated National Register of Citizens (NRC), while failing to address alleged human rights violations and the humanitarian crisis in Kuki-Zo areas.
KIM cited the May 13 killing of three Kuki-Zo Christian church leaders near Saheibung, who were ambushed while returning from a peace and reconciliation meeting in Churachandpur. It alleged that authorities had failed to conduct a transparent investigation or hold those responsible accountable.
The organisation also accused the state of allowing supply routes to Kuki-Zo areas to remain blocked for months, restricting access to food, medicines and other essentials. KIM described the disruption as collective economic punishment.
According to KIM, the Assembly’s failure to address these issues, coupled with what it called anti-Kuki rhetoric and attempts to fuel inter-tribal tensions, demonstrated that the Imphal-centred administration could no longer protect the community’s rights.
KIM invoked Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees that no person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. The Supreme Court has expanded Article 21 to cover a broad range of protections linked to a life with dignity, including access to basic conditions necessary for human existence.
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KIM’s argument is that prolonged insecurity, restrictions on essential supplies and alleged failure to protect civilians threaten those constitutional guarantees. That is a political and legal claim that would ultimately have to be tested against the facts and applicable law; Article 21 does not, by itself, establish a constitutional right to a separate state or administration.
The organisation reiterated its position, first advanced after the ethnic violence erupted in May 2023, that physical, administrative and political separation between the Meitei-majority valley and Kuki-Zo areas has become “absolute and irreversible”.
It said continued integration of the Kuki-Zo population under the present state administration was no longer viable and renewed its demand for a separate Union Territory with a legislature under the Constitution.
KIM appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the Centre to intervene, secure Kuki-Zo areas and initiate a political process for separate administration.
The organisation maintained that the Kuki-Zo people are equal citizens of India and warned that continued inaction would deepen the humanitarian crisis.
Article 21 angle: For a news report, the strongest formulation is that KIM “invoked Article 21 to argue that the state had failed to protect the community’s rights to life, personal liberty and dignity” rather than saying the state had legally violated Article 21. That keeps the report forceful while avoiding presenting an allegation as a judicial finding.
