No Census in Manipur Until Deletion of Unconstitutional “Any Kuki tribes”

MEDIA RELEASE

Imphal, the 17th January, 2026

Thadou Inpi Manipur (TIM), Thadou Students' Association (TSA), and Thadou Community International (TCI), representing the Thadou community, categorically and unconditionally demand the immediate suspension of any census exercise in Manipur until the controversial and unconstutional "Any Kuki tribes (AKT)" is fully and permanently deleted from the list of Scheduled Tribes of the state. Any attempt to proceed with a census prior to the removal of AKT will be reckless, irresponsible, and inherently dangerous, and will inevitably aggravate ethnic tensions, with the real potential of plunging Manipur into renewed large-scale conflict. Complete deletion of AKT must also precede the National Register of Citizens (NRC); otherwise, the exercise will not yield its intended outcome.

The continued inclusion of AKT—inserted in 2003 for overt political considerations—constitutes a grave and deliberate administrative failure. It has operated as a systemic loophole through which illegal immigrants and non-indigenous outsiders unlawfully obtain residency, constitutional entitlements, and Scheduled Tribe status in Manipur. Conducting a census without first correcting this distortion will irreversibly compromise the demographic integrity of the state, violate the rights of indigenous peoples, and pose a direct threat to national security.

Following the insertion of AKT in 2003 due to Kuki appeasement policies, the 2011 Census recorded a Kuki population for the first time at 28,342. These figures were never subjected to rigorous verification. Proceeding with another census before the complete deletion of AKT will amount to state-sanctioned legalization of unverified and potentially illegal populations, thereby permanently contaminating census data and distorting public policy for generations.

The Government of Manipur has formally proposed, through Cabinet decisions (2018, 2023 and 2024) and communications to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, the deletion of "Any Kuki tribes" from the Scheduled Tribes list of Manipur, per approved modalities. The proposal awaits views from the Registrar General of India. Delay in processing this proposal, amid the ongoing law-and-order crisis in Manipur's hill districts (predominantly Thadou areas), risks coercion by parallel and armed Kuki militant groups during Census operations, leading to misclassification under the erroneous "Any Kuki tribes" entry (reintroduced 2003 for non-indigenous/immigrant groups). Proceeding with the Census under President's Rule without resolving these concerns will have serious repercussions for indigenous communities, including the Thadou people.

Delay in processing this proposal, amid the ongoing law-and-order crisis in Manipur's hill districts (predominantly Thadou areas), risks coercion by parallel Kuki militant groups during census operations. Proceeding with the census under President's Rule without resolving these concerns will have serious repercussions for indigenous communities, including the Thadou people.

Under prevailing conditions—where Kuki armed militants exercise parallel-government-like authority and coercive control over extensive areas inhabited by non-Kuki indigenous tribes, particularly the Thadou but also others such as Aimol, Vaiphei, Paite, Gangte, Simte, Kom, and Zou—a free, fair, and credible census is categorically impossible. Census officials and community members alike will be exposed to intimidation, coercion, and forced misclassification under "Any Kuki tribes." Any post-enumeration correction would be illusory, impractical, and administratively unworkable. 

The conduct and declared objectives of Kuki groups admit no ambiguity. Armed militant organizations (both SoO and non-SoO), particularly those operating under the Kuki National Organisation (KNO), along with their proxy Kuki civil bodies such as the Kuki Inpi and Kuki Students' Organisation, have openly and repeatedly pursued the erasure of indigenous identities—especially that of the Thadou—through intimidation, coercion, and forced subsumption under the "Kuki" label.

A census conducted prior to the deletion of AKT will be deliberately weaponized as a tool for legitimizing further illegal immigration, transnational or cross-border terrorism, and demographic manipulation, causing exponential population imbalance and even the annihilation of indigenous identity or indigenous communities of Manipur.

This agenda has been publicly and brazenly articulated. At the "Any Kuki Tribes Recognition Celebration Conclave" held at M. Songgel Community Hall, Churachandpur, on April 22, 2023, Kuki supremacists, including Hejang Misao, openly declared their intent to make AKT the most populous tribe in Manipur in the forthcoming census. Their rhetoric amounted to a direct and explicit threat against the Thadou community, the largest tribe in Manipur, and the authority of the state, aimed at manufacturing demographic dominance. The large-scale violence that erupted in the same area on May 3, 2023, shortly after this conclave, was neither accidental nor spontaneous—it was a foreseeable and preventable outcome of such mobilization.

It must be placed firmly on record that Thadou organizations have consistently and forcefully opposed the inclusion of "Kuki" or "Any Kuki tribes" in the Scheduled Tribes list since the 1970s, repeatedly forewarning that such inclusion would inevitably result in instability and bloodshed. These warnings were systematically ignored in favour of political appeasement of Kuki groups. The present crisis stands as a direct indictment of those policy failures.

Given the established pattern of behaviour, the glorification and instrumental use of violence, and the explicit demographic ambitions of Kuki groups, conducting a census at this time would constitute an act of gross negligence. It would almost certainly provoke further ethnic violence at a moment when peace in Manipur remains fragile and unresolved.

The historical record of ethnic conflicts and violence in Manipur since the 1990s—including Kuki–Thadou, Kuki–Naga, Kuki–Zomi, and Kuki–Meitei conflicts, in all of which the Thadou community and identity have consistently been suppressed and among the most severely affected—demonstrates unequivocally that Kuki supremacist and expansionist agendas have been systematically pursued and have remained a central and enduring driver of instability and bloodshed in the state.

Therefore, Thadou Inpi Manipur, Thadou Students' Association, and Thadou Community International issue a final, unequivocal, and non-negotiable call to the Government of Manipur, the Government of India, and all census authorities: immediately suspend all census-related processes in Manipur until "Any Kuki tribes" is completely and permanently deleted from the list of Scheduled Tribes of Manipur. Any failure to do so will render the authorities fully and directly accountable for the consequences that follow, including any further breakdown of peace, constitutional order, and the rights of indigenous peoples in Manipur.

Statement: "Thadou is a distinct ethnic group of people. Thadou is not Kuki, or underneath Kuki, or part of Kuki, but a separate, independent entity from Kuki. Any organization that incorporates "Thadou" but espouses Kuki and mis-portrays Thadou as Kuki or a part of Kuki is illegitimate and does not represent Thadou people and interest" – Thadou Convention, 2024.

Sd/-

(Manggou Thadou)

Joint General Secretary

Thadou Inpi Manipur

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