Meitei At A Kuki Relief Camp: Manipur's Big Step At Reconciliation

An MLA from Manipur's valley-dominant Meitei community travelled to two villages in areas categorised as hills for the first time since ethnic violence began over two years ago, and met with internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Kuki tribes living in relief camps.

BJP MLA and former state rural development minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh, 61, first went to Litan in the Naga-dominant Ukhrul district. Accompanied by a small team, he spoke to the IDPs from the Kuki tribes, his aides said.

He asked about the hardships the IDPs have been facing, they said, adding the people living in relief camps also expressed a wish to rebuild and return home with the government's help.

A statement attributed to the relief camp's incharge Lunkhojang Baite, however, said the MLA accompanied by BJP leaders arrived at the relief camp unannounced when most inmates of the camps had left for work, leaving behind children, women and the elderly.

Baite alleged the MLA used the absence of the majority and other responsible inmates to make an uninvited stop, taking photographs with unsuspecting children before quickly departing.

In another twist, sources in the relief camp said the Kuki inmates have to obey their armed groups and other pressure groups in their demand for a separate land cut out from Manipur, due to which hostile statements can be expected, indicating a wide gap between the elites and those living in relief camps.

"There are conflicts among different countries, there are conflicts among different communities, across the world. But we should learn to live in harmony despite the existing differences. There should not be any hindrance in visiting each other's villages," Yumnam said.

"We should not allow this conflict to affect the future of our children. We, the elders, may have differences, but we should think about our children's future," he said. "With the coming of Christmas, we all should pray for the return of peace in the state."

The MLA then went to Chassad Kuki village in Kamjong district, bordering Myanmar, his team said.

Manipur BJP vice president and Tangkhul Naga leader Hopingson Shimray, who accompanied Singh during the visits, said it was a remarkable gesture at a time when everyone is reluctant to venture to another community's area due to implied threats by a few tightly organised vested interests with commercial and political designs.

The Litan relief camp incharge from the Kuki tribe, however, in the statement attributed to Baite said, "... We do not welcome such calculated and opportunistic actions aimed at gaining visibility amidst the ongoing turmoil faced by the people of Manipur. We firmly distance ourselves from this episode and urge all leaders to act responsibly, transparently, and with genuine concern during this sensitive time."

'Threatens Anyone Who Chooses Peace'

A youth leader of the Thadou tribe, Michael Lamjathang Thadou, who has been campaigning for removing the controversial 'Any Kuki Tribes' category from Manipur's Scheduled Tribes list, in a post on X said Singh took "a small but beautiful step" today.

In very strong remarks, he alleged members of the Thadou tribe to which he belong still can't go home, "not because of Meiteis but because some Kuki supremacists threaten anyone who chooses peace."

"IDPs of every community just want to return safely. It is the fear created by Kuki supremacists who benefit from keeping Manipur divided. When the people of Manipur unite, no politics or geopolitics can divide us anymore," Michael Thadou, who is also a Manipur BJP spokesperson, said.

This Christmas we remember: the Prince of Peace was born in Bethlehem, and the angels declared, "Peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased."

Today a small but beautiful step was taken when Meitei MLA Shri Yumnam Khemchand Singh visited our displaced brothers & sisters at... https://t.co/Hmazr8Xql7

— Michael Lamjathang Thadou (@Michael_Thadou) December 8, 2025

While he was rural development minister, Singh brought a package for building 7,000 houses from the Centre for IDPs. He had also organised a relief camp for IDPs from the Meitei community at a college in the state capital Imphal for over seven months. Eventually, he helped the displaced people in returning home to their villages in Serou And Sugnu, which were some of the worst-affected areas during the peak of the ethnic clashes in 2023.

Manipur has been under President's rule since February, four days after N Biren Singh resigned as chief minister.

Former chief minister N Biren Singh shared a video of meeting residents of Senapati, Noney, and Tamenglong ahead of Christmas, days after villagers from Ijeirong in Noney district came with food, water and other items for IDPs who had been protesting in Imphal West District with their demands for safe passage home. People across community lines expressed appreciation at the gesture.

"It was a memorable occasion filled with meaningful interaction, laughter, and togetherness; this is the future we are building with hope, unity and harmony. Wishing everyone a blessed and peaceful Christmas season ahead," Biren Singh said in a post on X.

Celebrated the spirit of advent Christmas with the vibrant youths and students of Senapati, Noney, and Tamenglong.

It was a memorable occasion filled with meaningful interaction, laughter, and togetherness; this is the future we are building with hope, unity and harmony.... pic.twitter.com/FwOdgNxPuo

— N. Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) December 8, 2025

The Kuki tribes are settled in districts surrounding Imphal valley. Two National Highways pass through Kuki villages, due to which Meiteis have been denied access to the highways by Kuki insurgents and their civil society interface organisations. The insurgents numbering some 24 groups are under the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement valid for a year.

The Kuki Zo Council, which works in conjunction with the insurgent groups under the SoO agreement, has said no Meitei or Kuki should cross the "buffer zone" under any circumstances, as there is "still no settlement or agreement to the conflict between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities."

Meitei organisations have said the fundamental right to free movement provided by the Constitution is being dictated by insurgents and private organisations, not enforced by the government.

They alleged a few Kuki leaders in coordination with armed groups have stopped members of the Kuki tribes from accessing the state capital Imphal valley and the airport in order to keep their demand for a separate land active.

Manipur Deadlock

Kuki groups, including insurgent organisations that represent their tribes and that signed the SoO agreement with the Centre and the state government, have pointed at the ethnic clashes that began in May 2023 as the reason why they escalated their demand from an autonomous council to a separate administration, or a Union Territory with an assembly.

The World Kuki-Zo Intellectual Council (WKZIC), however, in a memorandum to the Manipur governor on January 15 said the Kuki tribes have been demanding a state "since 1946-47."

"We have been demanding Constitutional Kukiland state under Article 3 of the Indian Constitution, since 1946-47 to the first Prime Minister of India PM Jawaharlal Nehru in the name of Kuki National Assembly (KNA), resurged by Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), Kuki State Demand Committee (KSDC) and KNO-UPF who were under SoO with GoI since 2008, to safeguard and in recognition of our community's rights, including our right to self-determination, cultural identity, and linguistic heritage," the WKZIC said in the memorandum, which also detailed hardships of the Kuki tribes since India's Independence.

Kuki leaders have said a "political solution" in the form of a separate administration should be discussed first before any other issues, including the return of thousands of people living in relief camps.

Meitei leaders have, however, cited this condition placed by the Kuki leaders as a deceitful attempt to set up a narrative for an ethnocentric homeland demand; the Meitei leaders' argument is that talks can go on while at the same time people living in difficult conditions in the camps can also return home since no territory is ethnic exclusive.

The demand for an ethnocentric homeland is untenable and obsolete in Manipur, where at least 35 communities co-exist, a group of activists and academics from the violence-hit state bordering Myanmar had said at a side event of the 57th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva in October 2024.

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), which was active in 2023-24 before the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) surfaced, and the Kangpokpi-based Kuki group Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), their 10 MLAs, and the nearly two dozen insurgent groups under the SoO agreement have come on the same stage in demanding a separate administration carved out of Manipur. This has blurred the lines between the common citizenry and the armed elements, Meitei civil society organisations have alleged.

Some remnants of Meitei insurgent groups banned in India are also operating in Myanmar. The only Meitei armed group that signed any kind of agreement with the Centre is the UNLF(P).

Over 260 have died in the violence, and 50,000 have been internally displaced since May 2023.