Centre rules out Kuki-Zo groups’ U.T. demand
SOCIAL – UNREST
9 NOVEMBER 2025
- Kuki-Zo insurgent groups in Manipur on Saturday said that they held talks with the Union Home Ministry this week, “focusing on the core demand for a Union Territory with a Legislative Assembly” for Kuki-Zo areas, insisting that “coexistence” within the State was not possible. This comes just two months after the groups signed a Suspension of Operations (SoO) pact with the Union and State governments.
- However, the Centre’s representative in the talks said it was not possible to accept their demand, according to both the insurgent groups and a Ministry source.
- The two umbrella groups — the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and the United People’s Front (UPF) — said the talks were held on November 6 and 7, with the MHA being represented by its Northeast Adviser A.K. Mishra.
- In a statement, the SoO groups said that on November 6, the discussions centred on the implementation of the September 4 tripartite agreement, where they demanded that the administration and governance issues in Kuki-Zo inhabited districts should be addressed. “The second day (November 7) focused on the political demand for U.T. with legislature,” the statement said.
- According to the SoO groups, Mr. Mishra reiterated that the current policy does not support creation of new U.T.s. He stressed the need for consultations with other communities in Manipur, they said.
- An MHA source said talks with the insurgent groups will continue, to find a negotiated political solution in consultation with all communities, but the demand for a U.T. with legislature was not possible.
- The talks covered issues of land, forests, customs, and development, along with mutual confidence-building measures to be pursued alongside the regular political dialogue, the groups said. They urged the MHA to take concrete steps to protect traditional tribal land rights and uphold the authority of tribal chiefs, who manage land and customary matters in the hill areas.
- “They also urged the Government to remove administrative hurdles related to the succession of village chiefs after their demise, and to simplify procedures for land registration and deed processing, which currently require travel to Imphal — an area that has become inaccessible and unsafe for the Kuki-Zo community since the outbreak of ethnic violence,” the SoO groups said.
- Renegotiated SoO pact
- On September 4, the MHA had announced that the tripartite pact, in limbo since February 2024, had been signed with renegotiated terms and new ground rules.
- The new terms said that security forces would conduct verification of cadres, de-list and deport foreign nationals, and relocate camps run by insurgent groups. The September-4-agreement, the latest version of the SoO pact in place since 2008, reiterated the territorial integrity of Manipur but inserted a new clause: “negotiated political settlement within Constitution of India.”
- The pact had been periodically extended annually until February 29, 2024 when the Manipur government refused to extend the tripartite pact following the eruption of ethnic violence between the tribal Kuki-Zo and Meitei people on May 3, 2023.
- Former Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh had claimed that the SoO groups had violated the ground rules of the pact and instigated the ethnic violence. Around 250 people were killed and more than 60,000 people were displaced from their homes due to the violence.
- Before May 3, 2023, the SoO groups had been demanding autonomous territorial councils for Kuki-Zo communities within Manipur. Post-violence, however, their demands have changed.
- Historical precedent
- On Saturday, the SoO groups said they had highlighted the historical justifications for their political demand, noting that the Kuki-Zo Hills had never been under the control of the Manipur State Durbar before Independence.
- Administratively, politically, and culturally, the tribal people had never been an organic part of the Manipur State before 1947. Given this history, the Kuki-Zo representatives maintained that their demand for U.T. status with a legislature is rooted in constitutional and historical legitimacy,” the statement said.
