IMPHAL, Aug 5: A tribal organisation in Manipur’s Churachandpur on Tuesday asked the Kuki Zo Council, an association of the indigenous people, not to operate in Zomi-majority areas of the district, asserting that it does not recognise the legitimacy of the term “Kuki Zo”.
Zomi Council, the apex body of the tribe, in a statement, claimed, “It has learnt that certain authorities in the central government have invited a particular civil society organisation from the Manipur hills to surreptitiously discuss the issue of reopening national highways for free access.”
Any discussion in this regard must involve the participation of the Zomi Council and its affiliated bodies, without which any arrangement would be considered “obsolete and untenable”, it said.
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Recalling that the Zomi Council had rejected the “Kuki Zo” as a legitimate identity in May 2024, it asserted that “any organisation bearing the name ‘Kuki-Zo Council’ stands rejected and is unwelcome in all Zomi-inhabited areas, particularly within Churachandpur district and Lamka township.”
The council also asked the Kuki-Zo Council to set up its office only in areas where they are accepted.
The Zomi Council will always stand with its nine constituent tribes and shall continue to work tirelessly to safeguard their security, dignity and well-being, it added. (PTI)
