Photo: PTI
Imphal/ New Delhi: The Kuki-Zo community members staged protests on Saturday around Manipur and in New Delhi, calling for N Biren Singh, the chief minister of the state, to be held accountable for an audio recording in which he is said to have "declared his involvement in spearheading violence" in the region.
The protestors also sought a separate administration for the Kuki-Zo community.
In Manipur, rallies were organised in Churachandpur district, Kangpokpi district and the India-Myanmar border town of Moreh in Tengnoupal.
Markets and schools in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts remained closed in view of the rally organised by students.
G Kipgen, a protestor in the Kangpokpi rally, said, “The demonstration is being held to press our demand for a Union Territory for the Kuki Zo people.
“We also protest against the viral audio clips in which objectionable comments were made,” another protester said.
In New Delhi, around 500 people, most of them wearing black clothes, joined the protest called by the Kuki Students’ Organisation Delhi and NCR, at Jantar Mantar.
They played patriotic songs, chanted ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and raised slogans against Singh. They concluded the protest by playing the national anthem, PTI reported.
In a memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the KSO said the Kuki-Zo community has endured an “ethnic cleansing campaign and constant attacks against it by the majority Meitei community since May 3rd, 2023”.
Over 200 people were killed and thousands rendered homeless in clashes between Meitei and Kuki communities since May last year.
“If the complicity and the involvement of the state machinery and state forces in unleashing violence against the Kuki Zo minority were ever in doubt, the audio recording mentioned above should dispel it,” the memorandum said.
The Manipur government has dismissed the recording as doctored.
When asked about the clip in a PTI interview recently, Singh said, “Some people are after me… there is a conspiracy. The matter is sub-judice. I won’t talk much about it. An FIR has been filed.” The KSO also demanded a separate administration for Kuki-Zo areas and making them a union territory with a legislature.
At the protest, Kuki Inpi Delhi spokesperson Kim Haokip said they cannot go back to live in Imphal after all the “atrocities” committed against them.
“We don’t want anything from Biren Singh. We want from the central government to look into this matter and find justice for all the Kukis. We are not demanding any separation,” he said.