The Kuki-Zo Women’s Forum Delhi issued a defiant appeal, demanding accountability for the May 3, 2023 violence, dismantling of Meitei militant groups, and a Union Territory for the Kuki-Zo people.
BY PC Bureau
September 10, 2025 — Two prominent Kuki-Zo organizations — the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) and the Kuki-Zo Women’s Forum Delhi (KZWF) — have issued split-tone statements ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Manipur on September 13. While both groups welcomed the visit as historic, their tone, emphasis, and demands reflected a divide in how the community perceives its struggle for justice and survival.
In its press release dated September 10, the Kuki-Zo Council, the apex body representing the community, described Modi’s visit as a “rare occasion” — the first by an Indian Prime Minister to Kuki-Zo areas in nearly four decades. The council struck a respectful and conciliatory tone, expressing “deepest respect and sincerity” while entrusting Modi with the responsibility to heal their wounds.
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The KZC lamented the loss of over 250 lives, the burning of more than 360 churches and 7,000 homes, and the displacement of over 40,000 people since violence erupted in May 2023. It emphasized that the Kuki-Zo people had been “forcibly separated by the aggression of the majority Meitei community” and continued to live in relief camps away from their ancestral homes.
Reiterating its long-standing demand for a Union Territory with legislature under Article 239A of the Constitution, the council justified it as arising “not from convenience, but from necessity — for peace, security, and survival.” Yet, its appeal carried a strong undertone of supplication, expressing confidence that Modi would “restore dignity, heal wounds, and safeguard the future of the Kuki-Zo people.”
Kuki-Zo Women’s Forum: Defiance and Direct Demands
In contrast, the Kuki-Zo Women’s Forum Delhi & NCR issued a far more defiant and urgent appeal. The forum explicitly accused former Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh and Rajya Sabha MP Sanajaoba of complicity in state-sponsored ethnic cleansing and genocide, citing the events of May 3, 2023, which displaced more than 60,000 Kuki-Zo people.
Marking Modi’s visit as “pivotal” and the “first time in Indian history that a Prime Minister will set foot in Kuki-Zo territory,” the women’s forum presented a list of four concrete demands:
- Creation of a Separate Administration in the form of a Union Territory with legislature.
- Accountability for genocide, including prosecution of state and central officials who failed to protect lives.
- Rehabilitation and resettlement of displaced families with security guarantees.
- Dismantling of Meitei extremist groups, including Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun, which the forum labeled as terrorist organizations.
Unlike the council’s appeal, which rested hope on Modi’s moral authority, the women’s forum positioned its demands as non-negotiable steps for justice and peace, stressing that the community had “lost faith in the Manipur state government, which has proven incapable of ensuring justice or coexistence.”
A Split in Tone, Not in Cause
Both statements underscore the deep wounds within the Kuki-Zo community after nearly two and a half years of conflict, but they highlight a divergence in political posture. While the Kuki-Zo Council seeks reconciliation through persuasion and appeals to Modi’s leadership, the women’s forum has adopted the language of accountability, justice, and resistance, signaling a growing impatience with symbolic assurances.
With Modi’s visit just days away, these parallel appeals expose both the unity and tension within the Kuki-Zo movement: unity in their call for separation from Manipur, but tension in how boldly they want to confront the central government and the majority Meitei establishment.
How the Prime Minister responds to these contrasting tones may determine whether his visit is remembered as a turning point for reconciliation or merely a symbolic gesture in a fractured state.
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