Kuki-Zo MLAs Reject Manipur Govt's Claim Of Peace Talks With CM Biren Singh, Call It 'Blatant Lie'

The 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs in Manipur, who have been advocating for a separate administration carved out of the state, dismissed a top government lawyer's statement to the Supreme Court that Chief Minister N Biren Singh has been engaging with all "Kuki MLAs" to promote peace, labelling it a "blatant lie" on Monday.

In a statement signed by the 10 MLAs, including Paolienlal Haokip, a vocal critic of Biren Singh, they said they learned that during a Supreme Court hearing on November 8, the Solicitor General of India had claimed that the "Chief Minister is meeting all Kuki MLAs and [is] trying to bring the [Manipur] situation down to get peace."

The MLAs contended that this statement was "a blatant lie and tantamount to misleading the Supreme Court" as they have not met with the Manipur Chief Minister in the past 18 months since the outbreak of ethnic violence between the Meitei-dominated valley community and Kuki tribes from Manipur's hill areas, reported NDTV.

"We further clarify that we have never had any meeting with Chief Minister, Shri N Biren Singh since May 3, 2023, nor have any intention to meet him in future as he is the mastermind behind the violence and ethnic cleansing of our people from Imphal valley, which is continuing till today, the latest being the brutal killing and burning of Mrs Zosangkim Hmar on November 7, 2024," stated the Kuki-Zo MLAs.

A woman from the Meitei community, Sapam Sophia Leima, was also reportedly shot dead by suspected Kuki militants on Saturday while working in her paddy field in Bishnupur district.

Some Manipur MLAs had traveled to Delhi in October for a meeting called by the Intelligence Bureau and monitored by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Among the 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs who attended, separate sessions were held with Home Ministry officials rather than joint meetings with other MLAs.

The 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs issued their statement after the Supreme Court on Friday directed a Kuki organisation to provide material verifying leaked audio clips. The organisation had filed a petition calling for a court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the alleged involvement of the Manipur Chief Minister in the ethnic violence. The tapes have been submitted to a Commission of Inquiry set up by the Home Ministry.

'Doctored Tapes to Disrupt Peace Process'

The Manipur government has dismissed the audio tapes as "doctored" and part of a campaign aimed at "derailing the peace process" in the violence-affected state. It cited a coordinated campaign on social media platforms, particularly X (formerly Twitter), where accounts were seen sharing the "doctored audio" with similar captions. The state government had previously refuted these tapes on August 7, after the Kuki Students Organisation (KSO) released part of the clip, and again on August 20, following a report by The Wire.

In a statement on August 20, the government described these actions as "anti-national activities" due to the likelihood of inciting mistrust and hatred among communities, which could exacerbate the state's current law and order situation and disrupt peace efforts by both state and central governments.

The displaced people from both the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur are yet to return to their homes. The Kuki-Zo MLAs and civil society groups have stated that discussions cannot proceed unless Biren Singh steps down.

Kuki leaders have also firmly maintained that a political resolution in the form of a separate administration must precede other issues, including the resettlement of displaced persons currently in relief camps. In response, Meitei leaders argue that this condition reveals an ethnocentric demand for a homeland, and believe that talks could proceed in tandem with the resettlement of those in camps, as no territory in Manipur is exclusively ethnic.

The demand for an ethnic-based homeland is unrealistic and outdated in a state like Manipur, where at least 35 communities co-exist, according to activists and academics from Manipur who recently spoke at a side event during the 57th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva.

Manipur is witnessing the rise of divisive forces that leverage narrow ethnic identities, which threatens to destabilise the state's pluralistic society, warned Dr. Arambam Noni, associate professor at Imphal-based DM University. He pointed to the dangers of weaponising ethnicity under the pretext of "ethnic homelands," which often suppresses or coerces smaller tribes near the India-Myanmar border into conforming with dominant ethnic ambitions. Dr. Noni called for an urgent restoration of normalcy in Manipur.

The clashes between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribes-a term given during British colonial times-have resulted in over 220 deaths and nearly 50,000 displaced people.

The Kuki-Zo MLAs, nearly two dozen Kuki-Zo armed groups under a suspension of operations (SoO) agreement, and groups such as the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum and the Committee on Tribal Unity all seek a separate administration carved out of Manipur, bringing them together with a unified demand.