The Committee on Tribal Unity has termed the arrest of a retired IDES officer and two other community leaders as discriminatory and politically motivated, urges government to end blockade-induced humanitarian crisis instead
By Lulun Haokip | Kukiland Express
Kanggui July 14, 2026: Tensions flared again in Manipur on Tuesday as hundreds of Kuki people took to the streets in Kangpokpi district demanding the unconditional release of three prominent community leaders arrested in connection with an arson case in adjoining Imphal West district.
The protest rally, organized by the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), Sadar Hills, was held to condemn what the organization called the biased and selective targeting of Kuki civil society leaders by state security forces.
The three arrested leaders have been identified as Kammang Lhouvum, a retired Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES) officer, Ngamboi Haokip, and Pagin Hangshing. They were picked up by security forces following an incident of arson on July 11, in which five abandoned houses were reportedly torched at Kanto Sabal and Leimakhong villages under Imphal West district.
According to CoTU, the arrests are an attempt to silence legitimate Kuki voices while ignoring the root cause of the unrest.
“The arrest of our leaders, including a highly respected retired central government officer, is completely biased and unjustified. This is undue harassment of Kuki civil society,” a CoTU spokesperson said during the rally.
The protestors marched through Kangpokpi town holding placards and shouting slogans, demanding an immediate end to the persecution of Kuki leaders. The rally concluded with the submission of a memorandum to Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen.
Copies of the memorandum were also forwarded to the Security Advisor to the Government of Manipur and the Director General of Police (DGP) for necessary intervention.
In its memorandum, CoTU stated that the July 11 arson incident was not an isolated act of violence, but the outburst of months-long public anger and frustration over acute shortages of food, medicines and other essential commodities. The organization blamed the severe humanitarian crisis on an alleged prolonged communal blockade enforced on the highways passing through the Meitei-dominated valley districts, which has cut off supplies to the Kuki-majority hill district of Kangpokpi.
The organization pointed out that Imphal West, which is dominated by the Meitei community, shares a direct boundary with Kangpokpi, and the blockade has “strangled the livelihoods” of thousands of tribal families.
CoTU lamented the double standards of the state machinery, stating that while security forces acted with swiftness in arresting Kuki leaders after the July 11 incident, they have remained silent and inactive on the ongoing blockade and the humanitarian suffering it has caused.
“The government is quick to arrest our leaders, but slow to act when our people are starving due to the blockade. This selective justice must end,” the memorandum stated.
The committee demanded that the government immediately and unconditionally release the three arrested leaders and shift its focus towards reopening all blocked routes and ensuring uninterrupted supply of essential goods to Kangpokpi and other hill districts.
Security was tightened in Kangpokpi during the protest, with heavy deployment of security personnel to prevent any untoward incident. The rally, however, ended peacefully.
