Kuki-Zo Council reiterates demand for separate Union Territory for tribes
POLITY – STATES
15 JANUARY 2026
- The Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) has reiterated the demand for a Union Territory for Kuki-Zo tribes in Manipur, saying that elements of the State government were “complicit in, or failed to prevent”, atrocities against them.
- The council apprised Union Home Minister Amit Shah of the “grave, prolonged, and unresolved concerns confronting our people in Manipur today”, in a memorandum submitted through the Deputy Commissioner of Churachandpur after a “mass rally”.
- The ethnic conflict that broke out in Manipur on May 3, 2023, left more than 250 Kuki-Zo people dead, 7,000 houses destroyed, 360 places of worship desecrated or vandalised, and more than 40,000 people displaced, mostly driven out of Imphal Valley, the KZC said.
- KZC also warned against resettling the internally displaced persons (IDPs) belonging to the Meitei community in the “buffer zone” or close to Kuki-Zo areas.
- Buffer zone refers to a narrow strip of land, separating the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley and the surrounding hills inhabited by the Kuki-Zo people.
- “For nearly three years, the Kuki-Zo people have been unable to access the Imphal Valley, leading to severe humanitarian, economic, medical and administrative hardships. Our demand for a union territory with legislature is well within the ambit of the Constitution of India,” it said, urging Mr. Shah to expedite a political solution to ensure lasting peace, dignity and security for Kuki-Zos.
