The Kuki-Zos on Sunday held multiple vigils along the buffer zone in Manipur’s Churchandpur to foil any bid by the Meiteis to climb the Thangting Hills as part of their annual pilgrimage.
Protesters, mostly women, arrived at the vigil sites in Khousabung, Zalenphai, Kangvai and Phuoljung around 9am and stayed put till 5pm.
A church leader said the protest vigil “badly affected” the morning and evening services to mark Palm Sunday.
The Kuki-Zos are mostly Christians and live in the hills while the Meiteis, mostly Hindus, live in the valley.
A banner put up at a protest site on Sunday said: “We will not allow any Meiteis in Kukiland until a political solution is arranged for us”. There were several placards with slogans such as “the hills are safe without Meiteis” and “hills and valleys are divided” written on them. The protesters also raised slogans such as “no trespassing by Meiteis” and “we want separate administration”.
Sunday’s protest comes close on the heels of the first tripartite meeting between the Centre, Meitei and Kuki-Zo groups in Delhi on April 5 for the restoration of peace in strife-hit Manipur. However, the distrust resurfaced during the deliberations when the Kuki-Zos refused to give their consent to the draft resolutions circulated by the Union home ministry.
A student activist from Manipur said the hill-climbing ritual had been put on hold due to the ongoing conflict. No climbing attempt or untoward incident was reported till the filing of the report.
The build-up of tension was evident from a joint statement issued by six Kuki-Zo civil society organisations (CSOs) on April 9 asking the Meiteis not to cross “the buffer zone” to climb the Thangting/Thangjing Hills for Ching Kaba in April as part of the Meitei New Year (Cheiraoba) celebrations. The statement was issued based on “speculation” that the Meiteis might try to climb the hills.
The CSOs had also stated that the entry/movement of the Meitei community would not be allowed unless a political solution to the conflict was reached.
The Kuki-Zos are steadfast in their demand for a separate administration since they can “no longer” live with the Meiteis because they “were forced out” of the valley after the conflict erupted May 3, 2023.
The CSOs’ statement had warned that anyone attempting to cross the buffer zone would be “considered a direct challenge to the Kuki-Zo community”, and would be “solely” responsible for any untoward incident that “occurs during such attempts”. It also urged the government to “safeguard” the interests of both the communities.
Meiteis slam ‘threat’
The Meitei Heritage Society (MHS), a civil society organisation, termed the Kuki-Zo CSOs’ statement “unconstitutional” and “clearly designed to engineer fresh round of violence by provoking the Meiteis”.
The MHS said the “threat by the Chin-Kuki groups also undermines efforts” by the home ministry to maintain peace and ensure talks while blaming the “prolonged inaction” by both the central and the state governments in addressing these “illegal and provocative acts”.
The MHA said “since ancient times, the Meiteis have been going on an annual
pilgrimage to the hilltop shrine of Ibudhou Thangjing, the guardian of the mountains”, adding that the Kuki statement was “akin to Hindus being stopped from making their pilgrimage to Kailash Parbat, or Muslims to Mecca”.
“It also violates the fundamental right to freedom of movement and the right to religious practice,” the MHS said.
