Kuki militant groups and MLAs from the community on Tuesday unanimously resolved to participate in the formation of a new government in Manipur only after getting a political commitment for a Union Territory in the Kuki-Zo-majority areas of the state.
The participants at a meeting held in Assam’s Guwahati adopted several other resolutions, adding that the political settlement “must be finalised and signed before the expiration of the normal tenure” of the current Assembly.
The tenure of the Assembly ends in March 2027.
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.
The meeting on Tuesday was attended by representatives of Kuki militant groups that are signatories to the Suspension of Operation agreement, MLAs from the community and the Kuki-Zo Council, an organisation of Kuki tribes.
It also came ahead of a meeting between the groups that are parties to the Suspension of Operation agreement and officials of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, The Indian Express reported.
The Suspension of Operations pact was signed between the Centre, the Manipur government and two conglomerates of Kuki militant outfits – the Kuki National Organisation and United Peoples Front – in 2008 and renewed in September.
Under the agreement, the security forces and the militant groups are prohibited from launching operations. The militant groups must abide by the laws of the land and are also confined to designated camps identified by the Union government.
As per the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, the resolutions adopted by the participants included a demand that the Union government expedites the political settlement for the creation of a Union Territory with a legislature and constitutional provisions for the protection of land ownership.
The participants said that in the absence of the written commitment, they resolve to “respect the political will of the people by refraining from taking any part” in the formation of a government in Manipur.
The minutes added: “It is resolved that a definitive political solution for the Kuki-Zo people must be achieved before the general election [state polls] of 2027.”
The meeting on Tuesday came nearly a month after BJP MLAs from Manipur were called to Delhi by the party for a meeting, which had led to speculation about government formation in the state.
Four of the seven Kuki-Zo MLAs from the BJP participated in the meeting, The Indian Express reported.
The Meitei MLAs have been demanding the end of President’s Rule and formation of a new government. However, Kuki-Zo groups have maintained that the creation of a separate administrative arrangement in the form of a Union Territory is the way forward to end the conflict in the state.
On January 6, the Kuki-Zo Council also said that members of the community “cannot and shall not” participate in the formation of a new state government, reiterating the demand for a Union Territory.
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