Case Filed Against Manipur Congress Leader Over Claim No Holiday On Kut Festival

Two separate police cases have been filed against Manipur Congress leader Lamtinthang Haokip and an X user for allegedly "inciting communities to escalate the conflict" and "promoting feelings of enmity" between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribes, among other allegations.

Mr Haokip has called the police case an attempt by the N Biren Singh government "to create a diversion or distraction from his party's failure in curtailing violence in the state."

The two had posted on X that the Kuki tribes' harvest festival, Kut, has been removed from Manipur's gazetted holiday list for 2025, two first information reports (FIRs) filed by Manipur BJP general secretary K Saratkumar Singh said.

The other FIR has been filed against an X user by the name 'Hennary L'.

Mr Singh in the FIR alleged 'Hennary L' "intentionally manipulated the original one by deleting the list of some holidays including Kut festival... giving false information to the general public".

The X user posted that "this continued oppression makes it clear that separate administration is the only sole solution," Mr Singh said in the FIR.

NDTV has seen the two FIRs.

In both the FIRs, Mr Singh said the viral posts by the Congress leader and 'Hennary L' "advocate and incite to create more chaos, escalate violence, and make the situation unmanageable in order to meet their demands..."

KUT, a post-harvest festival of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribal community, has been removed from the Gazette Holiday list for the 2025 calendar in Manipur by @BJP4India & its puppet administration.@rashtrapatibhvn @INCIndia@INCManipur @kharge @RahulGandhi @Jairam_Ramesh @girishgoa... pic.twitter.com/4EM4bqqAP8

— Dr. Lamtinthang Haokip (@DrLamtinthangHk) December 14, 2024

The list of general holidays for 2025 in the Manipur gazette shows Kut festival as falling on November 1, 2025, Mr Singh said in the FIR. Kut festival appears on serial No. 28 in the 30-day list of general holidays, Mr Singh said.

The list of public holidays for 2025 has 23 days. Kut festival along with others such as Mera Houchongba and Nupi Lan anniversary are not in the public holidays' list for 2025.

Kut festival, however, appears in the public holidays' list in Manipur's gazette for 2024.

Manipur's gazetted holidays' list mentions three annexures - general holidays, restricted holidays, and public holidays.

General holidays are meant for government offices, while public holidays are meant for institutions covered by the Negotiable Instrument Acts such as banks.

Mr Haokip in a post on X called the FIR an attempt "to create a mountain out of a molehill as a diversion or distraction from his (N Biren Singh's) party's failure in curtailing violence in the state."

"An FIR has been lodged against me by one BJP Manipur leader, K Sarat Kumar Singh, for exposing the confusion, uncertainty and chaos created by CM N Biren Singh-led BJP government for the past 19+ months in Manipur. Trying to create a mountain out of a molehill as a diversion or distraction from his party's failure in curtailing violence in the state," Mr Haokip said. "If you have guts, put your house (BJP ministers and MLAs) in order before pointing fingers at others."

An FIR has been lodged against me by one @BJPManipur leader, K. Sarat Kumar Singh for exposing the confusion, uncertainty & chaos created by CM @NBirenSingh led #BJP Govt for the past 19+ months in Manipur. Trying to create a mountain out of a mole hill as a diversion or...

— Dr. Lamtinthang Haokip (@DrLamtinthangHk) December 20, 2024

The Kuki tribes and the Meiteis have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation.

While the general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, the Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar's Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.