An organisation of Kuki tribes in Manipur on Tuesday said that members of the Kuki-Zo community “cannot and shall not” participate in the formation of a new government in the state.
The Kuki-Zo Council’s governing body reiterated the demand made by the tribal groups for a separate Union Territory.
Manipur has been under President’s Rule since February 2025, when Bharatiya Janata Party leader N Biren Singh resigned as the chief minister.
At least 260 persons have been killed and more than 59,000 persons displaced since the ethnic clashes broke out between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities in May 2023. There were periodic upticks in violence in 2024 and 2025.
Singh had stepped down amid allegations from Kuki-Zomi-Hmar groups that his response to the violence had been partisan and that he had stoked majoritarianism.
While the Meiteis dominate the valley region, the Kukis are in the majority in the state’s hill districts.
Last month, BJP MLAs from Manipur were called to Delhi for a meeting, which had led to speculation about government formation in the state.
In this backdrop, the Kuki-Zo Council said on Tuesday that considering the “present realities and the unanimous sentiment that the Kuki-Zo people can no longer live together” with the Meitei community, its governing council was reaffirming its political demand for a separate administration in the form of a Union Territory.
The decision had been taken at the meeting of the council’s governing body on December 30 and was made public on Tuesday.
The Cabinet of the Kuki-Zo Council also said that if a person from the community takes part in the government formation, “such participation shall be solely at his or her own responsibility”.
The Committee on Tribal Unity, a Kuki group, on Wednesday said that it endorses the Kuki-Zo Council’s decision.
The group urged the Union government not to impose “stringent directives” on the 10 MLAs from the Kuki-Zo community for “political reconciliation with the valley-based representatives without first settling our political demand and resolving our security concerns for long term peace and stability in the region”.
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