Since May 3, 2023, when Meitei mobs burnt Kuki homes in Imphal and drove out thousands, Kuki youths had no choice but to form village defence forces. UKNA Chief Thangmang Haokip led one such force to protect the vulnerable Henglep frontline. After the Government of India arrested UKNA leaders, the Henglep frontline has become extremely dangerous. Kacha-Naga militants and Meitei militants now move freely nearby, while Kuki villagers live in fear without defenders. This is a grave human rights violation against a minority — the state has disarmed the protectors and left civilians at the mercy of aggressors.
If the Government of India is truly neutral, why has Th. Muivah never been arrested despite leading the NSCN(IM), a group that has waged war against India for decades? The group is accused of killing more than 1,100 Kukis since the 1990s. In 2026 alone, more than 30 Kukis, including three pregnant women, three pastors and two couples, have reportedly been killed. The group continues to extort across the Northeast and openly talks about Naga sovereignty, yet Muivah gets VIP treatment in the name of peace talks.
Similarly, Meitei leader Korounganba Khuman of Arambai Tenggol, whose cadres were seen brandishing automatic weapons, has never been touched by NIA or CBI. His group is accused of killing over 250 Kuki civilians, burning over 200 Kuki villages, and shaming the nation by parading Kuki women naked. Videos of his cadres marching with sophisticated weapons went viral, yet the government looks the other way.
The reality in Manipur is that Kukis are being punished for surviving. More than 200 Kuki villages were burnt, churches demolished, and over 40,000 Kukis displaced to relief camps after attacks by Meitei mobs and militants. When Kuki youth formed Village Defence Forces to stop further attacks, Delhi called them militants and arrested their leaders. On the other hand, Meitei radical groups like Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun, which drove Kukis out of Imphal, are treated as cultural organisations. This is not law and order; this is majoritarian politics.
NSCN-IM: The Women Killer and the ISIS of Northeast India Kills Three Pregnant Kuki Women This Year
This selective action exposes the bias of the Modi-led BJP government. The BJP in Manipur is controlled by Meitei leadership under former CM N. Biren Singh, who has himself been accused of leading the anti-Kuki pogrom. The Centre depends on Meitei votes in the valley and Naga votes for its political settlement, while Kukis are a small minority. Arresting a Kuki leader gives Delhi a headline of action, while not arresting Muivah and Korounganba keeps its political allies happy.
What is happening to Kukis is nothing less than ISIS-like persecution inside India. Our villages are burnt like in Syria, our women paraded naked, our pastors beheaded and churches demolished to erase our Christian faith. This is systematic ethnic cleansing by Meitei and Kacha-Naga extremists, while the Government of India remains a silent spectator.
When the state becomes the oppressor and justice is denied, we have no option but to look outside. We call upon the United Nations, UN Human Rights Council, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and international Christian rights bodies to urgently intervene before the Kuki community is wiped out.
We appeal to world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, the UK Prime Minister, the European Union and all democratic nations who believe in human rights, to pressure the Modi government to stop this selective justice. The world intervened to stop ISIS when Yazidis and Christians were killed; why is the world silent when Kukis face the same terror?
If Thangmang Haokip can be arrested for defending his people, then Th. Muivah and Korounganba must also be declared terrorists and arrested. Until then, Kukis will continue to seek international protection, because we no longer get justice in our own country.
