By Hoiboi Touthang, Kuki Human Rights Activist
New Delhi: April 25, 2026
I call upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to reorganize Manipur into three states or Union Territories, as your government has done in Jammu & Kashmir. There are only three major communities in Manipur: Kuki, Tangkhul (Kacha-Naga), and Meitei. After three years of bloodshed between the Kuki and Meitei communities, it is clear that we cannot live under one administration. Political and administrative separation is the only way to end this conflict and restore peace in the region.
From 3rd May 2023 till today, the Meitei community have killed more than 250 Kuki people. This includes rape, torture, and killing of hundreds of Kuki women. Our villages have been burned, churches destroyed, and thousands displaced. The Indian Army has not been able to protect Kuki civilians and villages. Even today, non-camp IDPs in Churachandpur are denied aid while our people are forced to guard their homes with their lives. All these issues have proved the need to break Manipur into three states.
Now, the Tangkhul Kacha-Naga community has started war again against the Kuki community. They attack Kuki villages and kill civilians. On May 11, Tangkhul volunteers and Tangkhul militant NSCN-IM killed two Kuki civilians in the Tingpibung area, and on April 24 they attacked and burned down Mulam Kuki village and killed two Kuki volunteers, Paominlun Haolai and Mr. Letlal Sitlhou, in Mulam and Shongphal, Ukhrul. Women and children were injured and houses were torched. The Centre’s peace initiatives have failed because the root problem is political. Without separation, these attacks will continue and more innocent lives will be lost.
The Modi government showed courage in Jammu & Kashmir by using Article 3 to reorganize the state and ensure security. The same constitutional route must be applied in Manipur. Grant separate states or Union Territories with legislatures to the Kuki, Tangkhul Kacha-Naga, and Meitei people, each with full control over land, law and order, and resources. This is not division. This is the only administrative solution that guarantees safety, dignity, and development for all three communities.
The buffer zones, Kuki SoO agreements, and central forces have all failed to stop the violence. When the state cannot protect its citizens, and when one community is left to defend itself with sticks and village volunteers, the Constitution itself demands a new arrangement. Forced coexistence has become a death sentence for the Kuki people. We are not asking for favours. We are demanding the same constitutional remedy that was extended to Jammu & Kashmir when peace under a single administration became impossible.
The world is watching India’s handling of Manipur. Every day of delay means more widows, more orphans, and more destroyed homes. Our youth are dying not in war with a foreign enemy, but defending their villages from neighbours. This is the failure of the Indian state. If Modi fails to act now, there will be more conflict, more bloodshed, and more shame for India. We cannot wait while our people are killed and our villages are attacked. The time for dialogue without action is over. Trifurcate Manipur immediately, as you did in Jammu & Kashmir, and let the Kuki, Tangkhul, and Meitei live in peace under their own administration.
