Imphal, Nov 17 (IANS) Two Kuki MLAs of Manipur said on Monday that there has been no decision by the legislators of the community to join the new government in the state.

Two MLAs belonging to the Kuki community — Haokholet Kipgen and Chinlunthang — in a joint statement said that at the Guwahati meeting, there was a discussion on popular government in Manipur.

However, no decision was taken by the Kuki-Zo MLAs to join the new government.

Moreover, some Kuki-Zo MLAs were not present at the Guwahati meeting, they said.

The two MLAs added that there was a threadbare discussion on separate administration for the Kuki-Zo community focussing upon the gravity of the prevalent situation and circumstances.

Hence, the people is appealed not to get carried away by such misleading rumours, the statement said.

It advised the media to restrain from publishing unfounded and unverified news items in future to maintain its credential and reputation.

The 10 tribal MLAs belonging to the Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zomi community and almost all organisations of the community in Manipur have already urged the Centre to create a separate administration or Union Territory with legislature for their community in Manipur.

In a separate statement issued by militant outfit Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and United Peoples’ Front (UPF), signatories of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) pact on August 22, 2008, with the Centre and Manipur government, also said that no decision was taken by Kuki-Zo MLAs about joining a popular government.

“The Kuki-Zo MLAs and the collective Kuki-Zo leadership remain committed to achieving the political demand of separate administration or Union Territory as their foremost priority,” the KNO and UPF said.

The UPF and the KNO, which are a conglomerate of 23 underground outfits, signed the SoO with the government.

Around 2,266 cadres of the militant outfits have been staying in different designated camps in Manipur’s hill regions.

More than 260 people were killed, 1,500 were injured, and more than 70,000 were displaced after the ethnic violence broke out between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo communities on May 3, 2023, after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’, organised in the hill districts to protest the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

Manipur has been under President’s Rule since February 13, four days after N. Biren Singh quit as the Chief Minister on February 9.

The 60-member Manipur Assembly, which has been put under suspended animation, has a tenure till 2027.

–IANS

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