The Kuki Human Rights Council (KHRC) has strongly criticised former United National Liberation Front (UNLF) leader Ningthemcha Sanayaima, also known as RK Meghen, over what it described as misleading and inflammatory statements on the ongoing conflict in Manipur.
In a statement issued on Monday, the KHRC said it was deeply upset and disappointed by Meghen’s comments made during the 169th birth anniversary programme of Bir Tikendrajit at Berimura in Tripura. The organisation accused Meghen of trying to distort facts and shift blame onto the Kuki community.
According to the KHRC, the statements made by Meghen downplayed the suffering of the Kuki people and ignored what the group described as serious human rights violations committed against them. The council said that the ongoing violence in Manipur amounted to “ethnic cleansing” of the Kuki minority, and alleged that the attacks had been carried out with the support of armed Meitei groups such as the UNLF, PLA, Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun. 
The KHRC said it rejected any attempt to portray Kukis as the aggressors. It stated that more than 260 people had lost their lives since the start of the conflict, while homes, villages and ancestral lands were destroyed. The council said women, children and elderly people had been badly affected and described the situation as inhumane.
The organisation also said that the relationship between the Meitei and Kuki communities had been permanently damaged by the conflict. It declared that the idea of peaceful coexistence under the present system was no longer realistic. Instead, the KHRC said that future peace would require clear territorial separation and mutual respect for each community’s rights.
Reaffirming its long-standing demand, the KHRC said the call for a separate Kuki state or Union Territory had now become “non-negotiable.” It added that those responsible for what it called genocide must be brought to justice.
The council also urged people to avoid further provocative statements but said that its demand for justice, dignity and self-determination would continue.
