Kuki-Zo groups are demanding the re-imposition of President’s rule in Manipur
People display placards during a public rally against the killing of 3 Naga people by suspected Kuki militants. File | Photo credit: ANI
Kuki-Zo groups on Wednesday (October 21, 2026) demanded the re-imposition of President’s Rule in Manipur, saying at least 32 people from the community have been killed since March 2026.
President’s Rule was lifted in Manipur on February 4 this year after it was imposed a year earlier on February 13, 2025.
The Kuki-Zo Women’s Forum in Delhi said at least 32 Kuki-Zo people, including two pregnant women and 10 other women, had been killed since March 2026 in violence it attributed to members of the Isak-Muivah faction of the Nagaland Socialist Nationalist Council (NSCN-IM) and the Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF-Kamson). The forum also claimed that about 55 houses in 14 Kuki-Zo villages were burnt during this period.
“No Kuki-Zo Deaths Under Central Government”
At a press conference in Delhi, Kuki-Zo Council spokesperson Ginza Vualzong claimed that no Kuki-Zo civilian had been killed during the President’s rule. The council sought the re-imposition of central government “in the interests of the safety, security and dignity of the Kuki-Zo people”.
The organization also reiterated its demand for self-governance for the Kuki-Zo community in the form of a union territory with the legislature, arguing that the protracted ethnic conflict in the state has eroded the community’s confidence in the existing governance arrangement.
Economic difficulties
Mr Vualzong added that the prices of basic commodities in the Kuki-Zo inhabited areas of Kangpokpi, Ukhrul and Kamjong and the Longpi area of Noney/Tamenglong were beyond the reach of ordinary people.
He claimed that residents of Chassad and Aishi villages in Kamjong faced an economic embargo, while supplies to villages in Kotlen and Leilon areas of Kangpokpi were blocked. He further accused the United Naga Council (UNC) of blocking commodities going to Kangpokpi town in Namdilong and Senapati.
As a result, petrol prices in the affected area have increased to ₹250 per liter and LPG cylinders to ₹5,000, he said.
“Political settlement needed”
“Manipur is not a security problem, it is a political problem and needs an appropriate solution,” he said, insisting that the ongoing violence involving both the Meitei-Kuki-Zo conflict and the recent clashes involving the Naga and Kuki-Zo groups showed the need for a political settlement.
Ethnic violence between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei people, which began on May 3, 2023, has so far claimed the lives of more than 350 people. Since February 7 this year, another wave of ethnic violence broke out in the state between the Kuki and Naga groups.
Published – 21 October 2026 18:40 IST