The Kuki Student Organisation and Zomi Youth Association of Chennai Region conducted a peaceful sit-in protest on Wednesday, August 2, near Rajarathinam Stadium, Egmore. Kuki - Zomi are ethnic tribal groups living in the northeastern states of India. Kuki-Zomi students and people residing in Chennai participated in the peaceful protest and demanded justice, early restoration, and defusing tension among the communities in Manipur.
More than 500 Kuki-Zomi people raised slogans against the Union and Manipur government. Vice president of Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee Lamtinthang Haokip called the clashes state-sponsored terrorism and ethnic cleansing and sought justice for the people affected by the violence. “Our people (Kuki-Zo) no longer have access to the Imphal Valley. Our children no longer access the schools, colleges, and all other educational institutions, and people from the hills can no longer access the hospitals as all government institutions are in the valley. We are isolated in the hills,” he said.
He urged the government to declare Meitei Leepun and Arambai Tenggol organisations as extremist organisations and claimed they were behind the violence that ensued in Manipur. He also accused the role of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and asked what happened to the 4,000 sophisticated arms and 5,00,000 ammunition stolen from the state armoury.
Talking to TNM, Maxxy, President of the Kuki students organisation (Chennai region), said that their family members in Manipur do not have any mechanism to protect themselves from the violence meted out to them. “The (Manipur) state government failed to protect us, so we are staging protests to bring the Union government’s attention and take appropriate actions to bring peace back home,” he said. Maxxy, a Kuki man from Churachandpur, where the ethnic violence broke out, has lived in Chennai for a decade. He said that no one in his village was safe, and people were routinely looking out for the infiltrators and keeping them at bay to protect the residents.
David Manlun, a man from the Zomi ethnic group and one of the organisers of the protest told TNM that they were the victims and wanted to show solidarity for those affected in Manipur.
The frequent protests across India come at the time a video of two women paraded naked went viral on social media platforms on July 19. The incident took place on May 3, right after a clash erupted between Meiteis and Kukis after the student's peaceful protest turned into mass violence. The state has been in turmoil for the last three months after Manipur High Court suggested the BJP ruling state government consider Scheduled Tribal (ST) status to Meitis.
Watch: Bengaluru protest calls for end to Manipur violence