Delhi/Imphal: A powerful rally was held at Jantar Mantar on October 25, where members of the Kuki Students’ Organisation–Delhi and NCR (KSO-DNCR) gathered to demand justice and a separate administrative arrangement for the Kuki-Zo community in Manipur. The event, themed “Forged Government is Forged Justice; Separate Administration is True Justice,” drew attention to the ongoing ethnic violence and displacement in the state, which has been affecting the community for over two years.
The rally highlighted the plight of the Kuki-Zo community, with over 220 people killed and more than 60,000 displaced, many of whom are still living in relief camps across Manipur and neighboring states. The KSO-DNCR president, Paajahup Guite, voiced the community’s “profound grief and unyielding sense of injustice” since the violence first erupted in May 2023. The organisation accused authorities of failing to deliver accountability, warning that continued inaction could “fracture faith beyond repair.”
The KSO-DNCR has demanded the formation of a separate administrative structure within the Union of India, complete with its own legislature. This demand stems from the community’s belief that coexistence under a “majoritarian-controlled state administration” is no longer viable. The organisation outlined five key demands: justice and accountability for the violence, creation of a separate administration, protection from forced justice, comprehensive humanitarian relief and rehabilitation, and maintenance of a buffer zone between Kuki-Zo and Meitei-inhabited areas to prevent further clashes.
Reaffirming the community’s trust in India’s constitutional principles, the KSO-DNCR concluded, “We do not seek privilege, we seek justice. Let the Kuki-Zo people not remain exiles in their ancestral land.” The rally saw participation from students, human rights advocates, and community leaders, all of whom urged constitutional and human rights protection for the affected Kuki-Zo population.
