The Crossbill News Desk
As tensions between Kuki-Zo tribes and Tangkhul Nagas continue to escalate in Manipur, church leaders from the Kuki-Zo community are turning to religious institutions in neighbouring Mizoram in an effort to revive dialogue and reduce hostilities between the two communities.
A delegation of Kuki-Zo church leaders is travelling to Aizawl to meet church authorities in Mizoram, seeking their intervention in encouraging talks with Naga church leaders in Manipur and Nagaland, reported The Indian Express.
“We have tried to reach out to the United Naga Council for a dialogue, but it has not been successful. So, a delegation of the Kuki-Zo Church is heading to Aizawl to talk to church authorities there. A meeting is scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday). We hope that the church in Mizoram can impress upon the Naga church authorities in Manipur and Nagaland to engage in dialogue,” Kuki Zonal Council (KZC) chairman Henlienthang Thanglet told the newspaper on Monday (July 13).
The latest outreach follows renewed violence triggered by the recovery of the bodies of six Naga civilians in Kangpokpi district, an incident that has further strained relations between the two communities.
Alongside the peace initiative, Kuki civil society organisations have renewed their demand for what they describe as equal treatment for victims of the conflict. They have called for restoration of humanitarian access to affected areas and a faster political resolution to the broader ethnic crisis in Manipur.
“Everyone is talking about the six Naga hostages. People don’t know about the suffering the Kuki-Zo are going through. Fifteen Kuki-Zo people have been killed at the hands of NSCN(IM) and other armed groups and 14 villages have been burnt down. We condemned the killing of the Naga hostages, but justice must be equal. We are also victims,” KZC spokesperson Ginza Vualzong said on Monday while addressing a press conference in New Delhi.
Earlier, delegations from the KZC and the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) met the Union government's North East interlocutor Ajit Lal and Intelligence Bureau director Mahesh Dixit to convey their concerns over the deteriorating situation in Kuki-majority areas.
The organisations also submitted a memorandum to Union home minister Amit Shah, highlighting what they described as an increasingly grave humanitarian and security crisis.
“We have asked the Government of India to ensure immediate protection of the lives, properties and ancestral lands of the Kuki-Zo people, order an impartial investigation into the killings and village burnings, restore uninterrupted movement of food, medicines and fuel, and take decisive constitutional and administrative measures for a durable political solution,” said KIM president Ch Ajang Khongsai.
The developments come in the aftermath of armed clashes between Kuki and Naga groups in Manipur's Kamjong district on July 2, when more than 30 houses in villages along the India-Myanmar border were reportedly set ablaze.
The violence prompted the deployment of additional security personnel, while Kuki and Naga organisations issued conflicting claims, each accusing armed groups from the other community of orchestrating the attacks. The fresh efforts by church leaders are being viewed as an attempt to create a parallel channel for dialogue amid continuing mistrust and recurring violence in the region.
A delegation of Kuki-Zo church leaders is travelling to Aizawl to meet church authorities in Mizoram, seeking their intervention in encouraging talks with Naga church leaders in Manipur and Nagaland, reported The Indian Express.
“We have tried to reach out to the United Naga Council for a dialogue, but it has not been successful. So, a delegation of the Kuki-Zo Church is heading to Aizawl to talk to church authorities there. A meeting is scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday). We hope that the church in Mizoram can impress upon the Naga church authorities in Manipur and Nagaland to engage in dialogue,” Kuki Zonal Council (KZC) chairman Henlienthang Thanglet told the newspaper on Monday (July 13).
The latest outreach follows renewed violence triggered by the recovery of the bodies of six Naga civilians in Kangpokpi district, an incident that has further strained relations between the two communities.
Alongside the peace initiative, Kuki civil society organisations have renewed their demand for what they describe as equal treatment for victims of the conflict. They have called for restoration of humanitarian access to affected areas and a faster political resolution to the broader ethnic crisis in Manipur.
“Everyone is talking about the six Naga hostages. People don’t know about the suffering the Kuki-Zo are going through. Fifteen Kuki-Zo people have been killed at the hands of NSCN(IM) and other armed groups and 14 villages have been burnt down. We condemned the killing of the Naga hostages, but justice must be equal. We are also victims,” KZC spokesperson Ginza Vualzong said on Monday while addressing a press conference in New Delhi.
Earlier, delegations from the KZC and the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) met the Union government's North East interlocutor Ajit Lal and Intelligence Bureau director Mahesh Dixit to convey their concerns over the deteriorating situation in Kuki-majority areas.
The organisations also submitted a memorandum to Union home minister Amit Shah, highlighting what they described as an increasingly grave humanitarian and security crisis.
“We have asked the Government of India to ensure immediate protection of the lives, properties and ancestral lands of the Kuki-Zo people, order an impartial investigation into the killings and village burnings, restore uninterrupted movement of food, medicines and fuel, and take decisive constitutional and administrative measures for a durable political solution,” said KIM president Ch Ajang Khongsai.
The developments come in the aftermath of armed clashes between Kuki and Naga groups in Manipur's Kamjong district on July 2, when more than 30 houses in villages along the India-Myanmar border were reportedly set ablaze.
The violence prompted the deployment of additional security personnel, while Kuki and Naga organisations issued conflicting claims, each accusing armed groups from the other community of orchestrating the attacks. The fresh efforts by church leaders are being viewed as an attempt to create a parallel channel for dialogue amid continuing mistrust and recurring violence in the region.
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