Manipur: Kuki groups urge MLAs not to take part in government, say it won’t help restore normalcy

Two umbrella organisations of Kuki-Zo groups on Wednesday said that MLAs from the community “cannot and should not” participate in the formation of a government in Manipur, adding that the elected administration would neither restore normalcy nor heal social divisions.

They made the statement on a day when Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yumnam Khemchand Singh took oath as the chief minister of Manipur, ending the President’s Rule that had been in place for nearly a year.

The BJP’s Nemcha Kipgen, who belongs to the Kuki community, and Naga People’s Front MLA Losii Dikho, from the Naga community, were sworn in as deputy chief ministers.

The Kuki-Zo Council said on Wednesday that the community has been “forcibly and physically separated by the Meiteis” and has demanded a separate administration from the “Meitei government” in the form of a Union Territory with a legislature.

The council added that in a meeting on December 30, it had resolved that in view of the “unspeakable atrocities committed against the Kuki-Zo people and the enforced physical separation imposed by the Meiteis, the Kuki-Zo people cannot and shall not participate in the formation of the government of Manipur”.

The council said that any Kuki-Zo MLA who “chooses to disregard the collective decision” would be doing so in their individual capacity.

In a...

Read more