Bimol Akoijam’s silence on condemning the valley-based militias and failure to endorse Kuki-Zo demands for justice, autonomy and self-governance have left him politically isolated and morally disowned.
BY Navin Upadhyay
June 30, 2025 – More than two years after ethnic violence first erupted in Manipur, scars remain deep, and political loyalties are profoundly fractured. Nowhere is this more evident than in the “disowning “ of the Kuki-Zo community of Dr. Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, the Lok Sabha MP from Inner Manipur.
Dr. Angomcha Bimol Akoijam is widely regarded as ethnically Meitei, though he belongs to the Kom tribe, which is constitutionally recognized as a Scheduled Tribe (ST) in Manipur. The Kom are a smaller tribe within the broader Kuki-Chin-Zo ethno-linguistic group. However, Dr. Akoijam was born and raised in the Meitei-majority Imphal valley, and his political base, academic career, and social affiliations are largely anchored in Meitei society.
This dual identity — tribal by classification but culturally and politically aligned with Meitei interests — is at the heart of the controversy surrounding his role, especially in the context of Manipur’s ethnic conflict. That’s why the Kuki-zo community was hopeful that he would think of tribal roots even though he represented the valley.
The Kuki-Zo groups’ rejection stems not from conventional political rivalry, but from a profound sense of betrayal and perceived silence on critical issues. Many Kuki-Zo groups feel that he represents valley-centric narratives and does not advocate for tribal interests, despite technically being from a tribal community.
The symbolic disowning of Akoijam came into sharp focus on Sunday when he was reportedly not allowed to enter the hills after crossing the buffer zone surrounding the Imphal valley — an area that technically falls within his own parliamentary constituency.
I, an elected Member of Lok Sabha, was stopped from visiting Phougakchou-Ikhai Makha Leikai Keithel (Bazar) in Bishnupur District, which falls within my parliamentary constituency (Inner Manipur) today, despite the heavy presence of security forces, including the Indian Army, in…
— A. Bimol Akoijam (@Bimol_Akoijam) June 29, 2025
The Roots of Resentment
There is a long and bitter history behind the Kuki-Zo community’s hostility toward the MP, whose constituency fall within the Imphal valley. But Bimol Akoijam has projected himself an inclusive leader and always tried to take up Pan-Manipur views in his speeches and interviews. The tribals looked up at him because he was also from the Schedule Tribes like them.
After all, the Kom tribe is officially recognized as part of the broader Kuki-Chin-Zo ethnic grouping. Therefore, the fact that Dr. Akoijam has been disowned by the Kuki-Zo tribal community, reflects a political and moral rupture, not a misunderstanding of geography. The issue isn’t that he represents Inner Manipur — a Meitei-majority valley constituency — but that, as a fellow tribal, his perceived silence and alignment with valley-centric narratives during the Kuki-Zo community’s deepest crisis is seen as a betrayal.
In a widely anticipated Lok Sabha speech on February 3, 2025, Akoijam, elected on a Congress ticket, slammed the Modi government’s handling of the Manipur crisis, but refrained from raising the issues that might have resonated with the tribal community. Not surprisingly, for many Kuki survivors of the May 3, 2023, violence, his words rang hollow.
His speech notably included concerns over the disappearance of Laishram Kamalbabu, a Meitei man who vanished from the Leimakhong military garrison in November 2024. However, he did not speak about the suffering endured by hill communities — an omission that many Kukis saw as deliberate and devastating.
Kuki-Zo groups found the address long on vague constitutional rhetoric but short on specific justice. Crucially, Akoijam failed to name or condemn militant groups like Arambai Tenggol, which are widely blamed for attacks on tribal homes, churches, and civilians. There was no call for legal accountability against the perpetrators of the May 3 atrocities. Instead, his focus remained abstract — which many Kukis interpreted as a strategic deflection from confronting the true aggressors.
READ: MP Stopped at Manipur Buffer Zone, Sparks Ethnic Row Online
Beyond silence, the Kuki-Zo community was angered by Akoijam’s repeated attempts to reinterpret the origins of the May 3 conflict and to reject the community’s demand for separate administration. In interviews over the past year, he has consistently distanced himself from the political aspirations of hill tribes while failing to utter a single word against Meitei militant or insurgent groups.
In a September 2024 interview with PTI, Akoijam suggested that the Manipur crisis was being “scripted in cahoots with those seeking to split and dismember the state” — a comment widely interpreted as a direct attack on the Kuki-Zo leadership advocating for a separate Union Territory.
Respected Sir you must accept it as the “New Normal”. When local narcissists n supremacists leaders failed us, right thinking citizens like you failed to stand up. The result is for all to see. It’s no use crying over a spilt milk https://t.co/YxaMOWONOh
— Goupu Lupheng (@GoupuLuphe12994) June 30, 2025
On February 19, 2025, the Kuki-Zo Women’s Forum (KZWF) issued a press release condemning Akoijam for his “deliberate distortion of facts” about the May 3 violence. The forum accused him of “historical revisionism” to shield Meitei interests while downplaying the targeted ethnic attacks against their own community.
“Bimol Akoijam has positioned himself as a ‘neutral’ commentator, but his statements reveal a clear bias,” the KZWF said. “He is knowingly parroting the Meitei narrative to absolve his community of responsibility for the horrors inflicted on our people.”
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For many Kukis, Akoijam may be tribal by blood, but his political loyalties lie with the valley. His electoral win came from Meitei-dominated constituencies, and his rhetoric — even when cloaked in constitutional concerns — is seen as reflective of Meitei grievances rather than tribal suffering.
The incident of Sunday, where Akoijam was barred by Indian security forces from entering Phougakchou-Ikhai, a locality near the buffer zone, laid bare his political isolation. Though he publicly condemned the restriction as “unconstitutional,” many Kukis responded with biting sarcasm and rage in social media posts:
“Where were you when we were hunted down and driven out of Imphal?”
“Now you want access to areas you ignored in our darkest hour?”
“You refused to name the killers, but now you call the line unconstitutional?”
For the Kuki-Zo community, his inability to cross the buffer zone was not just a logistical block — it was a symbolic line he had long crossed in their minds. A line between loyalty and betrayal.
No Voice, No Mandate
To the Kuki-Zo community, the essential issue is not about tribal identity — it is about representation and solidarity in times of existential crisis. Akoijam’s failure to raise demand for justice and accountability for the may 3, 2023 violence, his public distancing from Kuki demands for autonomy, and his perceived endorsement of anti-tribal narratives have made him untenable as their voice in Parliament.
