Christian tribals seek ‘separation’ in violence-hit Indian state
KuKi-Zo people say they cannot live with their Hindu-majority Meitei rivals under a single administration
Updated: May 06, 2025 08:34 AM GMT
A Christian-majority tribal group in India’s Manipur state has reiterated its demand for a separate administrative area as it marked the second anniversary of the outbreak of ethnic violence between them and the Hindu-majority Meitei people.
Kuki-Zo communities observed May 3 as “Separation Day,” marking the start of the unprecedented ethnic violence in 2023 that has claimed at least 260 lives and displaced some 60,000 people, mostly Christians.
Thousands gathered for a memorial service at the Wall of Remembrance in Kuki-Zo dominated Churachandpur district, where they read the Bible and sang hymns for those lost in the violence.
Ginza Vualzong, spokesperson for the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), said that the community demands a federally ruled separate territory because “that’s the only option for ensuring welfare and justice for the indigenous communities.”
He said Kuki-Zo and Meitei people “can no longer coexist” in one state and under the same administration, as people have lost trust in administrative systems involving Meitei people.
Violence erupted when Meitei people attacked a Kuki-Zo march protesting a government initiative to classify the Meitei as tribal.This classification would grant the Meitei, an economically and politically influential group, access to benefits from the state’s affirmative action program designed for weaker sections of society.
Critics accuse the state government, dominated by Meitei people, of tacitly supporting Meitei violence, which has also resulted in the destruction of approximately 11,000 houses and 360 churches and other church institutions.
The federal government removed the state government led by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and placed the state under federal rule on Feb. 13, 2025.
The Kuki-Zo people make up 41 percent of Manipur’s 3.2 million population. However, the Meitei constitute 53 percent and dominate even the state’s federal administration.
“Justice must come through a political solution, and our movement for separation from Meiteis will continue until it is fulfilled,” Vualzong said.
A church leader based in the state said, “Devastation caused by the violence was enormous, and it will take time to repair.”
Thousands remain in relief camps without basic facilities, and the “government is unable to rehabilitate them after two years. That tells us something about the effort to restore peace,” the Church leader, who did not want to be named, told UCA News on May 5.
“The only success was that the federal government succeeded in holding the first tripartite talks between the warring groups last month,” another Church leader added.
The Meitei people dominate Imphal Valley districts while the Kuki-Zo control the hilly areas. The Church leader said that the rival groups “are not ready to allow free movement in the respective areas they control.
We have been living through unimaginable hardship, with children unable to receive a proper education, food, or care, among other things,” the Church leader said, stressing the need for the speedy restoration of peace.
