Manipur: 6 Kuki organisations urge Meiteis not to cross buffer zone

Imphal: Six Kuki tribal organisations including Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO) on Thursday urged the Meitei community not to cross the buffer zone i.e. neutral areas to enter into the Kuki-Zo-Hmar inhabited areas.

The six Kuki tribal organisations in a joint statement said that there was speculation that the Meitei community people intend to cross the buffer zone for Ching Kaba at Thangting or Thangjing Hills in the month of April.

“Unless and until a political settlement is reached by the government of India for the Kuki-Zo-Hmar community under the Constitution of India, no such friendly approach to the jurisdiction of Kuki-Zo-Hmar land would be allowed for the Meitei community,” the statement said.

The organisations said that to avoid further escalation, each community must maintain the status-quo and respect the buffer zone.

Any intention to cross the buffer zone would be opposed tooth and nail by the Kuki-Zo-Hmar community people, the statement said and urged the government to take measures to safeguard the interests of the two communities.

Thangting or Thangjing Hills, is a mountain peak in Churachandpur district.

The north–south-running mountain range forms part of the western border of the Imphal Valley.

Meanwhile, curfew in the tribal inhabited Churachandpur district was relaxed for over 16 hours on Thursday.

Churachandpur’s District Magistrate Dharun Kumar S in a notification said that the “curfew imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, prohibiting unlawful movement and assembly of persons outside their respective residences, is hereby amended on April 10 in order to facilitate access to essential items and services for the public of Churachandpur District, particularly in the town areas. Due to the improvement of the law and order situation, the prohibitory order was relaxed.”

Curfew was imposed in parts of Manipur’s Churachandpur district on Wednesday in view of tension over hoisting community flags in a “disputed area” between two villages inhabited by different tribes.

Tension erupted between Zomi and Hmar tribes on Tuesday after community flags were raised in the “disputed area” between V Munhoih and Rengkai villages in the Churachandpur sub-division.

IANS