Sit-in-Protest Demanding Separate Administration Held; There Shall be no Division Within Kuki-Zo, says KCLF Leader

As usual, a sit-in protest demanding separate administration was held today at the Wall of Remembrance, Tuibong, Lamka. Strongly denouncing the state-sponsored ethnic cleansing pogrom unleashed on the minority Kuki-Zo people, the womenfolk of Lamka gathered in large numbers to put pressure on the Government of India to hasten formalization of separate administration for the people.

During the protest, Pastor Onkho Haokip, a leader of Kuki Christian Leaders’ Fellowship(KCLF), said there shall be no separation within Kuki-Zo and the leaders must have the mentality to strengthen unity within the Kuki-Zo community. He was delivering a motivational speech during weekly sit in protest held under the aegis of Women Wing of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF).

Pastor Onkho Haokip said there shall be no division among the Kuki-Zo people as the people have a mission and an aim to accomplish in the near future. “The Kuki-Zo people must be prepared at all times to defend their land,” he said, and added that taking up arms to defend one’s land does not mean that the people have committed a sin. “The Kuki-Zo have not waged war against the Meitei till date. Instead they (Meitei) have waged war against us,” he said.

Onkho Haokip also said that many government projects such as dams had been set up, impacting the land in the hills. However, the profits of the projects mostly benefited those in the valley. The people from the valley know the value of the land and its resources in the hills, but the real landowners have not been able to utilise the resources productively, he added.

The Pastor continued that people must not rest and think that the conflict is over even though the burial service for the Kuki-Zo martyrs is over. We must first play our part and do the needful in pursuit of our aims and mission and not solely depend upon prayers and miracles for every of our demand to accomplish, he said.

The pastor also suggested that different church denominations must further extend their helping hands to the poor and the needy as well as the displaced persons in Kuki-Zo areas. Even the churches can extend help to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum or other apex Kuki Zo civil society organisations who are playing a major part in helping the community through the present crisis.

During the programme, victims’ families were also given the opportunity to share the ordeal they had faced in the ongoing crisis. Total shutdown was enforced in the district from 6:00 AM on Wednesday till 4:00 PM in the evening. People from different age groups from different localities in the district also took part in the sit-in protest.