Massive protests erupted in the Kuki-Zo majority Churachandpur district of Manipur on Thursday evening (6th February) over the participation of three Kuki-Zo MLAs, including Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen, in the government formation. The new state government, led by Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh, passed a floor test in the Manipur Legislative Assembly in Imphal on Thursday evening. The protestors opposed the swearing-in of new Deputy Chief Ministers Nemcha Kipgen and Losii Dikho.
As per reports, the protests began around 6 pm in the Tuibong Main Market area, where hundreds of protestors clashed with the security forces. As the security forces tried to control the protestors, confrontations escalated, and the protestors pelted stones and burnt tyres in the middle of the road.
The state assembly was convened for the first time after a year and a half of the President’s rule. However, none of the ten Kuki-Zo MLAs, out of which seven belong to the BJP, attended the assembly session. Only three Kuki-Zo MLAs, who had briefly supported the government, attended the session virtually. The security forces had to use tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.
Mob clashes with security forces in Manipur's Churachandpur amid protests against new DCM. pic.twitter.com/03BcjgLadC
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Until now, none of the Kuki-Zo MLAs had engaged in the government formation process since the beginning of the conflict in the state in May 2023. On Wednesday (5th February), Kuki-Zo MLAs, LM Khaute and Ngursanglur Sanate, accompanied Khemchand Singh to the assembly to form the government, which infuriated the local Kuki-Zo people.
On Thursday, the Kuki-Zo Council, an influential civil society body based in Churachandpur, announced a “social boycott” of these MLAs. The Council denounced their participation in the formation of what is called the “Meitei-dominated government.” It also declared that “these MLAs have effectively aligned themselves with our enemy, thereby betraying their own people and disregarding the immense pain and sacrifices endured by the Kuki-Zo community.”
The Council referred to a meeting held last month, in which Kuki-Zo insurgent groups and MLAs had agreed on a set of “pre-requisites” for the participation of the Kuki-Zo MLAs in a new government in the state. The prerequisites included a written “political commitment” by the state and Central governments on a separate Union Territory for the Kuki-Zo majority areas of the state. The Council urged the Kuki-Zo people not to cooperate or associate with the MLAs “until they refrain from participation in the Manipur government and realign themselves with the collective position of the Kuki-Zo people.”
Other Kuki-Zo groups, such as the Kuki Students’ Organisation and the Kuki Women Organisation for Human Rights, called for a 24-hour shutdown across the Churachandpur district and a mass rally on Friday (6th February) against the MLAs.
