The controversial tripartite agreement signed between two dozen Kuki insurgent groups and the Centre and the Manipur government should not be extended due to blatant violation of ground rules by the armed groups, a global body of civil society organisations of the Meitei community has said in a representation to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla.
The Meitei Alliance - a conglomeration of 24 civil society organisations globally - in the letter to Mr Bhalla acknowledged the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement was originally intended to reduce violence and aid in peace-building.
The SoO agreement has, however, "not only failed to deliver on these objectives but have also become a source of lawlessness, parallel authority, and systemic abuse across the state", the Meitei Alliance said.
It cited a report by NDTV on alleged looting of highway-widening compensation funds by one of the SoO agreement signatories, Kuki National Front (KNF), in Manipur's Kangpokpi district.
Many beneficiaries of the rehabilitation and resettlement funds sent by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) to the competent authority (land acquisition) had alleged the KNF - whose home turf is Kangpokpi - siphoned off a large amount meant for those who lost their land or structures or both.
"This investigation exposes how groups under the protection of SoO have extended their influence into public institutions and resource distribution, thereby obstructing both governance and economic development," the Meitei Alliance said in the representation to the governor.
"... Multiple compensation credits were allegedly routed to individuals connected to SoO-protected armed groups; the entire process lacked transparency and accountability, undermining the rule of law and public trust," the Meitei Alliance said.
The KNF refuted the allegations, calling them "utterly baseless and motivated accusations aimed at maligning our organisation". It did not, however, seek an investigation into the allegations or a forensic audit of the accounts of the alleged middlemen.
At least 12 village chiefs/chairmen have also said they object to "erroneous and misleading manner in which our legitimate and specific issues have been lumped together with unconnected and unverified allegations". They denied villagers were coerced into signing blank documents under intimidation by the finance secretary of the armed group, Jangboi Kipgen.
The village chiefs/chairmen, too, did not seek an investigation by any enforcement agency.
None of the eight alleged middlemen has come on record to explain the multiple credits into their bank accounts worth crores of rupees. There could be other suspicious entries that only a proper forensic audit may be able to detect, a top banking source had told NDTV.
Requesting the governor not to renew the SoO agreement, the Meitei Alliance cited three reasons why the agreement is doing more harm than good to Manipur - constitutional breach of state authority, public distrust and breakdown of governance, and social and communal fragmentation.
The Manipur assembly on February 29, 2024 - the day the SoO agreement lapsed - unanimously passed a resolution asking the Centre to scrap the deal with Kuki insurgents, which broadly tells them to stay in designated camps with weapons kept in locked storage, among other ground rules.
"Law and order is a state subject, and the continuation of SoO agreements - without accountability or consent from the elected state government - erodes constitutional federalism," the Meitei Alliance said.
The President's rule in Manipur which came into effect in February following the resignation of N Biren Singh as chief minister has been extended for another six months. The assembly has been placed under suspended animation, meaning the assembly is active but cannot function temporarily.
"The SoO framework has enabled the ethnic militarisation of civil society, obstructing the return to normalcy and inclusive peace across communities in Manipur," the Meitei Alliance said in the representation to Mr Bhalla.
The 25 Kuki, Zomi and Hmar insurgent groups come under two umbrella organisations for the purpose of negotiations - the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) led by the Kuki National Army (KNA), and the United People's Front (UPF) led by the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA).
The KNO and the UPF representing all the others have signed the SoO agreement. The KNF comes under the KNO.
In June, a KNA insurgent was among three people arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for allegedly attacking a police post and killing two commandos in Manipur's border town Moreh in January 2024.
That was the second time an authority confirmed on record the violation of SoO ground rules by Kuki insurgents in Manipur in the last two years since Meitei-Kuki ethnic clashes began in May 2023.
The first official confirmation of the SoO agreement's ground rules violation came from the Manipur Police in September 2024 when three Kuki Liberation Army (KLA) insurgents - all of them residents of Churachandpur district - were killed in a gunfight in Jiribam. They were Seiminlen Khongsai, Haogoulen Doungel (31), and Nehboithang Haokip (26).
The Manipur Police in September 2024 also for the first time confirmed the involvement of Meitei insurgent group UNLF (P), which had signed a ceasefire with the Centre and the state, after a UNLF (P) insurgent identified as Baspatimayum Lakhi Kumar Sharma (41) was killed in the Jiribam gunfight.
The NIA's June 8, 2025 statement and the Manipur Police's September 8, 2024 statement showed that insurgent groups in Manipur that have signed the SoO agreement have been involved in the Manipur violence.
While the authorities have confirmed only two cases of SoO agreement and ceasefire violations in the last two years, both Meitei and Kuki civil society groups accuse each other of hiding the involvement of insurgents belonging to their respective communities in dozens of cases.
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