Kuki-Zo Students Protest Against MLA Involvement in New Manipur Government

NEW DELHI – The Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO) Delhi & NCR staged a demonstration at Jantar Mantar today, 7 February, to register their fierce opposition to the participation of Kuki-Zo legislators in the newly formed Manipur state government.

Protesting under the specific banner "Protest Against Kuki-Zo MLA(s) Involvement in Manipur Popular Government Formation," the student body argued that any participation in the Imphal-based administration betrays the community's struggle. In a strongly worded press statement titled "Justice First, Not Symbolism – Kuki-Zo Dignity Before Government Formation," the KSO declared the new "popular government" illegitimate in the eyes of those still living under displacement and trauma.

A Political Rupture

The KSO clarified that the Kuki-Zo people no longer consider themselves part of Manipur’s political or administrative framework. They described the violence inflicted since May 2023 as an "irreversible political rupture," making continued coexistence under the current state structure untenable.

"The crisis is not about accommodation within Manipur," the statement read, "but about a breakdown that has made continued coexistence under the same state structure untenable." The organisation slammed the projection of peace and stability as a misrepresentation of the lived reality of the people.

The Humanitarian Cost

To underscore their rejection of "symbolic representation," the KSO highlighted the staggering humanitarian toll the community has endured since 3 May 2023:

226 Kuki-Zo lives lost.

Over 200 villages burned and 7,000 houses destroyed.

360+ churches and synagogues destroyed.

41,425 individuals currently displaced.

Demand for Justice

The KSO maintained that peace cannot be "manufactured" through political declarations or administrative gestures while root causes remain unaddressed. The organisation emphasised that the voices of ordinary Kuki-Zo people—those who have lost homes and family members—must take precedence over political appointments. The protesters called for accountability and a permanent political solution that acknowledges the total collapse of the relationship between the community and the State of Manipur.