Songpi: Alleging grave discrimination, selective justice and violation of constitutional rights by the National Investigation Agency [NIA], the Kuki Women Organisation for Human Rights [KWOHR] organised a massive statewide protest rally across all Kuki-inhabited districts of Manipur on Friday, August 21, 2026, as per the directive of the apex body Kuki Inpi Manipur [KIM].
The call for protest came amid growing resentment within the Kuki community over what they describe as one-sided arrests and investigations by central agencies since the outbreak of ethnic violence on May 3, 2023.
The main and largest rally in Churachandpur district was held from Koite village ground to Peace Ground, Tuibong, with participation of thousands of women, including elderly mothers, widows of victims of violence, and internally displaced women living in relief camps. The protesters, holding traditional shawls and raising slogans, carried placards that read – “Enough is Enough”, “Protect Kuki People”, “Equal Protection: Uphold It, NIA”, “NIA: Not Impartial Anymore”, “Justice Should Be Blind”, “End Selective Action” and “Stop Targeting Kuki Youths”.
Similar protest demonstrations were also organised in other districts. In Tengnoupal district, a rally was taken out from Loise village to the Deputy Commissioner’s office where a memorandum was submitted. In Chandel district, another major protest was organised in the Sachi Kana area under the leadership of local KWOHR units, with women blocking roads and chanting slogans demanding justice.
Speaking exclusively to media persons at Peace Ground, KWOHR President Ngaineikim launched a scathing attack on the NIA, saying the Kuki people expect the central agency to remain neutral, professional and constitutionally bound, but instead Kuki youths are being selectively picked up, harassed and arrested while perpetrators from the valley are given a free hand.
Citing a recent incident, she said security forces allegedly entered a hospital premises in Churachandpur to arrest an injured Kuki boy who was undergoing treatment, and fired blank rounds inside the hospital after women intervened to stop the arrest. “Is this the rule of law? Entering a hospital and firing inside? If the NIA has any impartiality left, it should answer,” she said.
She further alleged that serious and heinous crimes committed against Kuki women since May 2023, including parading women naked, sexual assault, rape, brutal killings and burning alive, remain completely unpunished. “Where are all those perpetrators? Where is the NIA when our women were paraded naked on camera? We have never heard that they have been arrested. Not a single valley leader has been booked for those crimes,” she added.
Following the rally, KWOHR submitted a detailed five-point memorandum to Union Home Minister Amit Shah through the Deputy Commissioner of Churachandpur. The demands include – 1) Impartial and time-bound investigation of cases involving Arambai Tenggol leaders, 2) Probe into the alleged killing of 15 Kuki persons including three pastors and burning of several Kuki villages allegedly by NSCN-IM and its proxies, 3) Protection of constitutional and human rights of Kuki individuals facing NIA proceedings, 4) Immediate release of innocent Kuki youths arrested under alleged false charges, and 5) Complete transparency in all major cases related to Manipur violence.
However, the absence of any major public protest in Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi district yesterday has sparked strong criticism and intense debate from within the Kuki community itself. While Churachandpur, Tengnoupal and Chandel witnessed massive participation of women, Kangpokpi, which is considered the gateway to the Kuki hills, remained largely silent, even as Meitei civilian buses escorted by heavy central forces passed through its jurisdiction on the same day.
Many community members have openly criticised this silence, saying that at a time when the entire Kuki people are demanding justice and opposing forced normalcy imposed by the Centre, Kangpokpi’s inaction sends a wrong and confusing signal to both the Government of India and the world. Several local youth organisations alleged that fear of renewed killing, excessive bloodshed and carnage after witnessing systematic ethnic cleansing and mass extermination since May 2023 has silenced the district, with many families still afraid of retaliation and another cycle of violence.
In another important development yesterday, the Kuki Human Rights Council [KHRC] also strongly condemned the Government of India and Government of Manipur for the forced and militarized resumption of public bus services on National Highway-2 from Imphal to Dimapur and Guwahati on August 21, 2026.
In its official press release Ref: KHRC/PR/2026/021, the KHRC termed the move as undemocratic, unconstitutional and a militarized forced peace imposed on the Kuki people without their consent. The Council outrightly rejected the official claim made by the state administration that 125 passengers passed through Kuki-majority Kangpokpi and Naga-dominated Senapati districts without any incident, stating there was no incident only because the entire 110-kilometre stretch of the highway was sanitized, dominated and guarded by thousands of central forces who escorted Meitei civilians through Kuki ancestral lands.
The KHRC questioned how the Centre can facilitate one community’s free movement in the name of restoring normalcy when thousands of Kuki people are still living in overcrowded relief camps, unable to return to their homes in Imphal valley since the ethnic violence of May 3, 2023. It said true peace cannot come from buses guarded by guns and armoured vehicles, but only through political justice, healing and separation.
Meanwhile, protesters and civil society leaders also voiced strong and deep disappointment that the Government of India has been continuously ignoring the legitimate, democratic and constitutional political demand of the Kuki people for a separate Kuki State or Union Territory with legislature for the past three years. They reminded that despite more than 250 deaths, burning of over 200 villages, displacement of over 60,000 people and complete ethnic separation on the ground, the Centre has not initiated any political dialogue on the demand.
They asserted that despite this prolonged silence and neglect, the demand and democratic movement for separate administration has not stopped and is still continuing with full public support in all Kuki-inhabited areas. They termed the Centre’s continued silence and inaction as a biased, discriminatory and unconstitutional act, asserting that there can be no real, lasting and honourable peace in Manipur without addressing the political aspirations and ensuring security of the Kuki people.
