Meitei Body Condemns Threat To Stop Pilgrimage To "Sacred Hill", Kuki Groups Say Can't Cross "Buffer Zone"

A civil society group of Manipur's Meitei community has appealed to the Centre and the state government to take "decisive action" against groups that issue "unconstitutional and provocative" statements amid the ethnic tension in the border state.

The Meitei Heritage Society (MHS) in a statement on Friday alleged "six Chin-Kuki groups threatened Meiteis against going for their annual pilgrimage to Thangjing Ching (hill)", which the Meiteis consider sacred and ancient.

Moirang's Meitei community had been going for pilgrimage to Thangjing Ching, which the Meiteis revere as the home of the deity Ibudhou Thangjing.

The Kuki tribes call this hill range Thangting, which falls under Churachandpur district. The Thangjing hill range lies between Moirang town and Churachandpur district, 40 km apart.

"Since ancient times, the Meiteis have been going on an annual pilgrimage to the hilltop shrine of Ibudhou Thangjing, the guardian of the mountains. This illegal statement by the Chin-Kuki groups is 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.

Six Kuki organisations on April 9 in a joint statement warned that "unless and until a political settlement is reached by the government of India for the Kuki-Zo community under the Constitution of India, no such friendly approach to the jurisdiction of Kuki-Zo land will be allowed for the Meitei community."

The statement came despite the imposition of President's rule and the Union Home Ministry's order to ensure free movement across Manipur to bring peace.

The six Kuki organisations also cautioned that anyone who tried to "cross the buffer zone" would be "considered a direct challenge to the Kuki-Zo community."

In response, the MHS said the latest act by the "six Chin-Kuki groups is clearly designed to engineer a fresh round of violence by provoking the Meiteis."

"Chin-Kuki militants and their frontal groups that call themselves 'civil society organisations' are desperate to keep the pot boiling. If there is peace in Manipur, then the separate land demand by the Chin-Kukis would lose relevance. This threat by the Chin-Kuki groups also undermines efforts by the Ministry of Home Affairs to maintain peace and ensure talks," the MHS said.

Our Press Release on the threat issued by Chin-Kuki groups threatening Meiteis against going for their annual pilgrimage to the Thangjing Ching.

The act is clearly designed to engineer a fresh round of violence by provoking the Meiteis.

We strongly urge the authorities to take... pic.twitter.com/zB6mH8nJmY

— Meitei Heritage Society (@meiteiheritage) April 11, 2025

"We strongly urge the authorities to take immediate and decisive action against these groups and send a strong message that such anti-constitutional and provocative actions will no longer be tolerated but will face strong and exemplary actions," the MHS added.

It said the "audacity is also a result of the prolonged inaction by both the government of India and the government of Manipur in addressing these illegal and provocative acts."

In February 2024, a cross was installed atop Thangjing Ching near Moirang town in an act seen as destabilising in the violence-hit state. The cross was installed despite a Supreme Court order on December 16, 2023 that the Manipur government should ensure all religious buildings including churches and temples are protected.

Manipur's Congress government in 2015 created the Thangting sub-division (now Kangvai sub-division) in the Thangjing range, which led to tension among communities.

The Kuki-Zo tribes deny the hill is exclusively a sacred site of the Meiteis.

The valley-dominant Meitei community and over a dozen distinct tribes collectively known as Kuki, who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation. Over 260 have died in the violence and nearly 50,000 have been internally displaced.