Kuki-Zo Council warns of ‘full-fledged’ agitation on October 10
Imphal: Kuki-Zo Council (KZC), an apex civil organization representing the Kuki-Zo tribal community in Manipur, has threatened to launch a “full-fledged agitation” if the New Delhi fails to address its administrative, humanitarian, and security concerns by October 10, 2026.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the organisation says India’s dreaded National Investigation Agency (NIA) is targeting operations against the community in Manipur and Manipur people working in India.
The KZC said the Kuki-Zo people were facing severe shortages of food and essential commodities in parts of Kamjong, Kangpokpi, Noney, and Tamenglong districts due to an economic blockade imposed by the United Naga Council.
It also expressed concern over “selective and disproportionate” operations by the NIA in Kuki-Zo areas, saying that innocent civilians were frequently summoned for questioning into interrogation centres, police and army camps without adequate justification, but “fewer operations appear to be conducted in Naga and Meitei areas.”
The KZC further said the bodies of Kuki-Zo people would not be buried until an appropriate and acceptable resolution was reached.
It demanded the re-imposition of President’s Rule in Manipur, pointing out that no Kuki-Zo civilian was killed when it was in force between February 2025 and February 2026.
“The Government of India must… ensure the safety and protection of the Kuki-Zo people, and hold those responsible for atrocities and violence accountable. It must also provide a clear and substantive update on the status and progress of the Kuki-Zo political demand and take concrete steps towards achieving an appropriate and acceptable political resolution,” the KZC said in a statement. The political demand refers to a Union Territory-like “separate administration” for the Kuki-Zo community.
At least six Kuki-Zos were killed between Sunday and Tuesday in the Naga-majority districts of Tamenglong and Noney. Then came an armed assault on Chawangkining, a Naga village in Kangpokpi district. Growing hostilities between the Kuki-Zos and Nagas of Manipur have left at least 42 civilians dead since March, triggering fears of a resurgence of the prolonged ethnic unrest involving the two communities in the 1990s.
The most dominated community of the Meitei and Naga communities are demanding independence and sovereignty in Manipur .The Meitei parties, including UNLF, PLA, and KCP, are demanding sovereign status of the former princely kingdom of Manipur, emphasize the historical boundaries of the independent kingdom confined largely to the Imphal Valley, and these groups strongly oppose any division or truncation of present-day Manipur’s territory.
The Major Naga nationalist groups, notably the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), seek the unification of all Naga-inhabited contiguous areas across Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Myanmar into a sovereign or specially administered unified homeland called “Nagalim”. Because Nagalim’s proposed boundaries include several hill districts of Manipur (such as Ukhrul, Senapati, Tamenglong, and Chandel), the Naga political aspirations directly conflict with the territorial integrity demanded by Meitei groups in the valley.
