Tangkhuls asked to cut all ties with Kukis

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Feb 25 : The Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL) has instructed all Tangkhul Naga villagers to immediately cut off civic and economic ties with the Kukis.  
Vehemently condemning a series of violent incidents that took place recently at Litan and surrounding Naga-inhabited areas, the TNL has accused the Central security forces of openly siding with Kuki militants.
A statement issued by the TNL outlined a timeline of specific hostilities that have occurred throughout February 2026--
Feb 7: Stalin A Shimray, a school teacher, was reportedly assaulted at Litan by Kuki immigrants, resulting in grievous injuries.
Feb 8: Kuki militants allegedly trespassed into Sikibung/Sharkaphung village, torching over 23 houses, including that of the village headman.
Feb 23: Portions of the Lungter Hill Range were set on fire. One villager, Aseng Awungshi, was reportedly abducted at gunpoint, while another, Kingson Muivah, escaped after being fired upon.
For the last more than 18 days, Kuki militants, including fully armed SoO cadres have been openly roaming around in the presence of the Central security forces in what constitutes a deliberate violation of the revised SoO agreement.
There are also reports of the presence of foreign National militants including KNA(B) cadres within the SoO camps, it said.
Disturbingly, instead of protecting the land right and right to life and liberty of the Nagas, the Central security forces have been seen openly siding with the Kuki militants signifying a hidden agenda of the Central Government to carve out a "separate homeland/administration" for the Kuki immigrants within the Naga homeland, it alleged.
In an attempt to transplant the Kuki-Meitei ethnic conflict into the Naga inhabited areas, a more sinister scheme of "demographic engineering" has been unleashed aiming at destroying the National identity, culture and dignity of the Nagas, it said.
To put the record straight, the Kukis are not indigenous to the State of Manipur as originally they 'are a wandering race" and they "were first heard of as Kukis, in Manipur, between 1830 and 1840” (Johnstone J, My Experiences in Manipur and the Naga Hills p 25), read the TNL’s statement.
Asserting that Litan and its surrounding areas are ancestral Naga lands, the TNL maintained that Kukis were historically permitted to settle under specific legal principles—including the recognition of Naga Chiefs' authority and the payment of "Hills House Tax" but these terms have been violated.
In utter violation of this established tenancy policy, there has been a heavy influx of Kuki immigrants from the neighbouring Burma/Myanmar.
Illegal Kuki villages have been sprouting up in the Naga inhabited areas and this is not the first time that the illegal Kuki immigrants have encroached upon the ancestral lands of the Nagas.
Swathes of Naga ancestral lands and tracts of village mountains have been forcibly occupied by the Kuki narco-terrorists for poppy plantations, it said.
Thus, the existing traditional demography and social cohesion of the tribal societies have been alarmingly disturbed, thereby creating a volatile situation only awaiting for the trigger, it said.
The TNL categorically asserted that Litan/Litan Bazar where Kukis are currently settled is the ancestral land and territory of Sikibung/Sharkaphung, a Tangkhul Naga village.
The Nagas' desire for peace, and the highest consideration for the shared humanity have always upheld accommodative actions towards the Kukis, including giving them food and shelter at the height of the Meitei-Kuki conflict.
However, the most basic conduct essential for peaceful and harmonious co-exis- tence have
Tangkhuls asked to cut all ties with Kukis
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been, time and again, negated by Kukis through their actions and repeated disrespect for the culture, customs, and traditions of the Nagas,  it said. Repeated incidents of harassment and disturbances have also occurred around Litan Sareikhong, Mongkot Chepu, Yaolen, Shangkai, Zalenbung, Lamlai Chingphei, and Thawai Kuki/Sepiyang, it added.
The TNL has urged both the Central and State Governments to relocate SoO Kuki militant camps away from Naga inhabited areas, and identify and deport all illegal immigrants.
Moreover, the State Government must ensure that all the unrecognized and illegal Kuki settlements/villages/hamlets are immediately evicted along with cancellation of all the illegal Touzis and no fresh and separate permit/Touzi shall be issued  for any new Kuki settlement, it said.  
The TNL said that the present militarization of the Naga inhabited areas on the pretext of the ongoing conflict must be stopped and all the deployed Central security forces must be withdrawn immediately. “Lasting peace cannot come at the cost of land ownership rights of the Nagas. The compassion of the Nagas should not be mistaken for weakness," it added.