Imphal/Guwahati:

An umbrella body of civil society organisations of Manipur’s valley-dominant Meitei community has requested Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla to work for restoring an elected government within a month.

President’s Rule was imposed in violence-hit Manipur on February 13 following the resignation of Chief Minister N Biren Singh.

Representatives of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) met Governor Bhalla at the Raj Bhavan in the state capital Imphal, and submitted a 13-point memorandum that detailed steps the Governor may consider to bring peace to Manipur.

“It is evident that in the ongoing law and order crisis in Manipur, the Meetei group has no specific agenda or objective in engaging with this conflict. Rather, the crisis appears to be driven by those pursuing the demand for a separate administration,” COCOMI said in the memorandum.

COCOMI requested the Governor to work on a comprehensive initiative to identify, dismantle, and evict all illegal villages that have sprung up across the state, threatening its demographic and environmental integrity.

The civil society group said all violent activities and unauthorised movement of armed groups must be brought to a complete halt to ensure peace and stability, and requested for measures to provide security and amnesty for all affected villages and their civilian village defence forces to safeguard them from continued violence.

“The coordinator of the northeast [for] BJP has firmly assured that the territorial integrity of Manipur will be safeguarded. The coordinator must unequivocally assert that the administrative integrity of Manipur is paramount and must be safeguarded without exception, ensuring that it remains uncompromised. It is imperative that we eliminate any possibility of separate administration,” COCOMI said.

The Raj Bhavan in a statement said COCOMI convenor Kh Athouba and six others called on the Governor, and submitted a memorandum highlighting key issues pertaining to the state.

“… Governor heard their concerns and asked them to cooperate with the government in the run-up to restore harmony,” the Raj Bhavan said.

COCOMI alleged one of the root causes of the Manipur crisis is the involvement of what it called “Chin-Kuki narco-terrorist separatist groups” that have been working “in a manner similar to the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) in Myanmar, using this alignment to bargain for territorial gains within Manipur while deploying expendable Kuki militants in a proxy war and counter insurgency operations under the guise of loyalty” to India.

READ | ‘Manipur Crisis Driven By Those Pursuing Separate Administration’: Meitei Body In Memorandum To Governor

“The Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement since 2008, which has enabled militancy, must be thoroughly reviewed and dismantled. The leadership of these groups, including UPF leader Thanglianpau Guite (former MP in Myanmar) and KNO leader PS Haokip (originally from Somra Track, Myanmar), underscores their foreign origins,” COCOMI said in the memorandum.

“The state urgently requires reestablishment of law and order across both hills and plains, immediate relief and financial assistance for those affected, reconstruction of destroyed villages with adequate security measures, rehabilitation of internally displaced persons (IDPs), ensuring their safe return to their respective homes and villages, and free and secure access to healthcare, education, and transport facilities, including uninterrupted and safe movement along national highways,” COCOMI said.

Had a fruitful and meaningful discussion with the Hon’ble Governor of Manipur today. All key issues were thoroughly explained and acknowledged, paving the way for a better resolution of the state’s chronic problems, which have been exacerbated by immense cross-border pressures… pic.twitter.com/TyYRfIdwvq

— Khuraijam Athouba (@Paari_Athouba) February 17, 2025

Some 24 Kuki-Zo militant groups come under two umbrella organisations for the purpose of negotiations – the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) led by the KNA, and the United People’s Front (UPF) led by the Zomi Revolutionary Army. The KNO and the UPF representing all the others have signed the SoO agreement with the Centre and the Manipur government. Under this agreement, the militants are to stay at designated camps and their weapons kept in locked storage, to be monitored regularly.

The state government has been demanding to end the SoO agreement over allegations that SoO-linked militants have been taking part in the Manipur violence, as also militants from several banned Meitei groups that had nearly been eradicated from Manipur in the last 10 years, only to return from their hideouts in neighbouring Myanmar after the breakout of ethnic clashes in May 2023.

READ | End Ceasefire With All Kuki-Zo Insurgent Groups: Manipur Assembly Unanimous Resolution

The SoO agreement is reviewed by a joint monitoring group every year; its last review was in February 2024, but little is known about the current status of the agreement.

Meitei leaders have alleged the SoO groups have been working to strengthen themselves over the years by taking advantage of the ceasefire, until a time came to engineer a violent attack for a separate land. Geopolitical analysts have speculated the Kuki armed groups were used as mercenaries to fight Meitei and Naga militants operating in the India-Myanmar border – while the SoO groups’ demand for separate territory carved out of Manipur is the unintended side effect of that alleged policy.

The Kuki tribes and the Meiteis have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation.

Imphal:

The umbrella body of civil society organisations of the Meitei community in Manipur has alleged statements issued by its Kuki counterparts in recent times show they want “to create circumstances that validate their long-standing demand for a separate administration.”

The Coordination Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) in a statement said even when the Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh stepped down “for the larger good”, Kuki civil society groups have “found another pretext to continue their movement for a separate administration.”

COCOMI’s statement comes amid the spectre of President’s Rule looming large over the violence-hit state after the chief minister resigned on Sunday, a day before a no-confidence motion to be introduced by the Congress in the budget session of the assembly, which was cancelled by the Governor.

The Meitei civil society organisation alleged their Kuki counterparts have “consistently sought new justifications to sustain unrest, making their own people suffer while capitalising on their discontent to push their vested political agenda.”

“COCOMI urges the government of India to recognise this systematic agenda and take firm measures to hold accountable any individual, organisation, or group that justifies instability and violence as a means to pursue their political ambitions. The people of Manipur deserve peace, stability, and a resolution that upholds the integrity of the state,” it said.

The valley-dominant Meitei community and over a dozen distinct tribes collectively known as Kuki, who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation.

Churachandpur-based Kuki organisation Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) and the Kangpokpi-based Kuki group Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) are in the forefront of the call for a separate administration carved out from Manipur, so are the 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs in the 60-member Manipur assembly and nearly a dozen Kuki-Zo militant groups that have signed a ceasefire (Suspension of Operations, or SoO Agreement).

The Kuki tribes and the opposition Congress party in Manipur have said the chief minister’s resignation is “too little, too late”. They have not given any indication of agreeing for talks unless they get separate administration, and an investigation is ordered into the alleged role of the chief minister in instigating the violence.

While Kuki leaders and militants under the SoO agreement have pointed at the ethnic clashes that began in May 2023 as the reason why they escalated their demand from an autonomous council to a separate administration, or a Union Territory with an assembly, Meitei leaders have cited numerous protests in the past by the Kuki tribes seeking separation, or “Kukiland”, a land of their own.

The World Kuki-Zo Intellectual Council (WKZIC) in a memorandum to the Manipur Governor on January 15 said the Kuki tribes have been demanding a state “since 1946-47.”

“We have been demanding Constitutional Kukiland state under Article 3 of the Indian Constitution, since 1946-47 to the first Prime Minister of India PM Jawaharlal Nehru in the name of Kuki National Assembly (KNA), resurged by Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), Kuki State Demand Committee (KSDC) and KNO-UPF who were under SoO with GoI [government of India] since 2008, to safeguard and in recognition of our community’s rights, including our right to self-determination, cultural identity, and linguistic heritage,” the WKZIC said in the memorandum, which also detailed hardships of the Kuki tribes since India’s Independence.

Over 250 people have been killed and 50,000 have been internally displaced in the Manipur clashes that began nearly two years ago.

Imphal:

The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) has urged the central government to set up a dedicated anti-narcotics bureau in the northeastern region.

The conglomerate of civil society organisations based in the state capital Imphal also appealed to the Centre to declare the region as a “narco-terrorist emergency zone”.

In a memorandum addressed to the chief ministers of northeastern states, COCOMI convenor Khuraijam Athouba said, “We urge the government of India to officially declare the northeastern region as a narco-terrorist emergency zone to highlight the gravity of the situation and mobilise national resources accordingly.”

The COCOMI demanded the establishment of a “specialised anti-narcotics bureau or force dedicated to combating drug trafficking and narco terrorism in the region”.

The bureau should work transparently and coordinate with the state governments and local authorities, COCOMI said in the memorandum.

The organisation called for a thorough investigation into “alleged complicity of influential individuals and entities in Manipur, Mizoram and Myanmar’s Chin state in supporting narco terrorism activities”.

It sought measures to destroy infrastructure supporting drug smuggling and illegal arms trafficking as well.