"Won't Tolerate Heinous Act": Kuki-Zo Group ITLF Condemns Office Vandalism

The office of a key Kuki-Zo civil society group that's leading the demand for separation from Manipur was vandalised by some armed people on Sunday night, the group's chairman Pagin Haokip said in a statement today.

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) in the statement condemned what it called vandalism "by a group of cowardly armed individuals at midnight" at their office in Kuki-Zo-dominated Churachandpur district, 65 km from the state capital Imphal.

"Additionally, the same alleged armed group attempted to murder ITLF spokesperson Ginza Vualzong at his home that same night and the ITLF vehemently denounced this action," the civil society group said in the statement also signed by its secretary Muan Tombing.

Mr Vualzong confirmed the incident on phone to NDTV today.

The ITLF did not name the armed group that vandalised its office. It also didn't explain what may have led to the attack.

However, the ITLF strongly condemned what it called the "uncivilised and perhaps fatal violence toward members of one's own community" - indicating it was vandalism by members of the same tribes - at a time when they are struggling for separation from Manipur, whose government the Kuki-Zo tribes say is dominated by the Meitei community to the detriment of the tribes.

"ITLF will not tolerate this heinous act and won't stop until the alleged offenders come out and settle with ITLF as soon as possible," the Churachandpur-based civil society group said in the statement.

This was not the first time Mr Vualzong was threatened at his home. On December 4 last year, some people armed with rods had entered his home and threatened him and his family, an incident which the Kuki-Zo civil society group had condemned strongly then.

The ITLF is a constituent member of the Zo United, formed in Manipur's neighbour Mizoram in September, four months after ethnic clashes began in Manipur between the Kuki-Zo tribes and the Meiteis.

The other key Kuki-Zo civil society group is the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), which is based in Kangpokpi on the other side of the valley from Churachandpur, 105 km apart.

The All Tribal Students' Union of Manipur (ATSUM), which participated in a rally on May 3 last year against the Meiteis' demand for ST status, had distanced itself from the ITLF and the CoTU after violence broke out, though the ATSUM held the BJP government led by Chief Minister N Biren Singh responsible for the outbreak of the crisis. Former ATSUM members told local media on Sunday the ITLF and CoTU do not have the mandate of all tribes in Manipur, but represent a single tribe.

The Kuki-Zo tribes are a majority in the hill areas in southern Manipur and a few other districts, while the Meiteis are a majority in the valley areas. The conflict erupted over serious disagreements over land, resources and political representation, lit by the fuse of the Meiteis' demand for inclusion under the affirmative action Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.

The Kuki-Zo tribes have repeatedly accused the Manipur government of siding with the Meiteis in the conflict by using state forces against the tribes, while the Meiteis have alleged the 25-odd Kuki-Zo insurgent groups that have signed a tripartite peace deal with the Centre and the state government have been participating in the violence.

Over 200 have died in the ethnic clashes, and more than 50,000 have been internally displaced.