"Misleading": 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs Say Never Met Manipur CM, Centre Lied In Supreme Court

Manipur: Ten Kuki-Zo MLAs from Manipur signed a joint statement on Monday calling the Centre’s submission in the Supreme Court last week that Chief Minister N. Biren Singh had met with all Kuki MLAs to bring peace a “blatant lie.” The Kuki MLAs stated that the Centre’s action was “tantamount to misleading” the top court of India.

In a joint statement, the ten Kuki MLAs, including Paolienlal Haokip, a strong critic of CM Singh, stated that during a Supreme Court hearing on November 8, the Centre had submitted that the “CM is meeting all Kuki MLAs and trying to bring the [Manipur] situation down to get peace.”

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“In this connection, we hereby categorically stated that this submission is a blatant lie and tantamount to misleading the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India,” read the statement.

The MLAs further clarified that they have never had a meeting with Singh since May 3 last year since ethnic violence broke out in the region between the Meitei and Kuki tribes.

The MLAs added that they do not have any intention of meeting him in the future either, as Singh is the “mastermind behind the violence and ethnic cleansing of our people from the Imphal valley, which is continuing till today…”

The statement also referred to the recent killing and burning of a woman, Zosangkim Hmar, from the Meitei community in the tribal village Zairawn in the Jiribam district. Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), a Kuki-Zo organisation, on Friday claimed that the 31-year-old woman and mother of three children from the village was shot and burnt to death by militants.

In October, some MLAs from the state met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in a meeting called by the Intelligence Bureau regarding the Manipur situation.

The joint statement by the Kuki-Zo MLAs comes after the apex court instructed Kuki Students Organisation (KSO) to submit material to indicate authenticity of leaked audio clips on the basis of which the organisation had filed a petition seeking a court-monitored special investigation team (SIT) probe into the alleged role of CM Singh in the ethnic violence.

The leaked audio clips have been submitted to a Commission of Inquiry formed by the Home Ministry.

Meanwhile, in a statement released on August 20, the Manipur government called the clips “doctored” and a targeted campaign to “derail the peace process” and to incite “hatred and mistrust amongst communities.”

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Ethnic violence broke out on May 3, 2023, between Kuki-Zo tribals and Meiteis. Nearly 250 people have been killed since, with over 60,000 displaced. The Kuki-Zo MLAs and Kuki civil society groups have said that talks are impossible as long as Singh serves as the CM.

Along with the ten Kuki-Zo MLAs, organisations such as the Committee on Tribal Unity and the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum seek a separate administration carved out of Manipur, bringing them on a common stage and speaking the same language.