The United Naga Council (UNC) on Saturday demanded the Centre's "immediate intervention" in halting what it called a "proxy war" by Kuki armed groups against the Nagas in Manipur, after six Liangmai Naga bodies were found at a village earlier this month.
Addressing a press conference at the Press Club of India here, leaders of the council said they submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister seeking immediate intervention regarding what they described as the deteriorating security situation in the Naga areas of Manipur.
The five top leaders of the UNC, the apex body of 21 Naga tribes, said that in a meeting with Ajit Lal, Adviser (Northeast) in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, they demanded the removal of Manipur Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen, citing her alleged "family connection" with Kuki militant groups.
The council alleged that Kuki militant groups abducted 20 Nagas on May 13 following the killing of three Thadou church leaders earlier that day.
It said 14 of them were released on May 15, while the remaining six were later found dead.
The UNC also demanded a court-monitored investigation into alleged killings and asserted that the incident will "not be forgotten or forgiven", and it may "sabotage the Indo-Naga peace process".
"The bodies were recovered on June 10. But so far, no arrests have been made. We are shocked to see the approach of the state and central security forces. They have done nothing to safeguard the properties and lives of civilians," Samson Remei, a key leader of the UNC, said.
L Adani, another UNC functionary, told PTI that the acts of violence against the Nagas amount to a violation of the Indo-Naga Framework Agreement, signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August 2015, for a permanent solution to the vexed Naga political issue.
"We fear that the attacks on Nagas and the targeted killings are aimed at derailing the Indo-Naga peace process. As it is, the framework agreement hangs in limbo, and the recent incidents may jeopardise it further," he said on the sidelines of the press conference, which, the UNC said, was its first in Delhi since the eruption of the Manipur violence in May 2023.
The Indian government has been engaged in peace talks with the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) ever since a ceasefire was signed in 1997. In August 2015, the two sides signed the framework agreement envisaging a negotiated settlement to the decades-old Naga political issue.
However, the peace process has remained deadlocked over the NSCN (IM)'s demands for a separate Naga flag and constitution, with the Centre unwilling to concede them, leaving the final agreement pending for nearly a decade.
"The Nagas maintained neutrality ever since the clashes broke out, as we believed that it was not our war or battle. In return, our brothers have been beheaded, their bodies mutilated. This concerns the credibility of the peace process and the security of India's eastern frontier," said KS Paul Leo, former president of the UNC.
AC Thotso, a member of the working group of the UNC, questioned the neutrality of the security forces deployed in the violence-hit state.
"We are seeking the personal intervention of the prime minister and Home Minister Amit Shah into the issue and a political response," said Thotso.
The Nagas, who account for about 24 per cent of Manipur's population and are concentrated in the hill districts of Ukhrul, Senapati, Chandel, Tengnoupal and Tamenglong, had largely stayed out of the Meitei-Kuki conflict that has convulsed the state since May 2023. However, the Kukis and Nagas have clashed in the past.
The UNC also reiterated its demand for the scrapping of the government's Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with Kuki armed groups, and demanded that the Centre declare the Kuki National Front-President (KNF-P) group a terrorist organisation.
It claimed that militant groups operating under the SoO had been involved in attacks on Naga villages and civilians, and urged the Centre not to extend the pact unless strict action was taken against those responsible.
Among its other demands, the UNC sought restoration of security along National Highways, a judicial inquiry into attacks since March this year, and an assurance that no administrative arrangement would affect what it described as Naga ancestral lands.