NEW DELHI, Dec 10: Ten Kuki-Zo legislators from Manipur held a protest in Delhi on Tuesday, reiterating their demand for a separate administration or Union Territory (UT). The protest, held at Jantar Mantar, was followed by a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging his intervention to end the ongoing violence and ethnic strife in Manipur.

The memorandum, signed by the 10 MLAs, including seven from the BJP, emphasized that a separate administration, in the form of a UT with a Legislature, was the only viable solution to address the state’s escalating tensions.

The MLAs strongly criticized the delay in initiating political dialogue with the United Peoples’ Front (UPF) and the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and condemned attempts to divide their communities by discontinuing the Suspension of Operations (SoO) with select armed groups. The SoO agreement, which was signed in 2008, was intended to bring peace and resolve political issues, but the MLAs argued that failing to extend the agreement with certain groups undermines its purpose.

Since the ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3, 2023, Kuki-Zo-Hmar tribal organizations, along with the ten MLAs, have been boycotting the state assembly and demanding a separate administration. Despite their repeated calls, both the state and central governments have rejected the demand for a separate administration.

The memorandum, submitted to the Prime Minister on Tuesday said, “Apart from the prolonged and chronic discrimination towards the hill districts in matters of development by the successive Meitei majoritarian state governments, it is sad to see the discrimination being worsened in this time of the conflict for the last 19 months. The Manipur government had failed to recommend and deliberately left out the affected hill districts for funding of Central financial assistance under ‘PM-DevINE’ for the project providing Super Speciality and Assured Speciality Health Care in remote and hill districts (Infrastructure and equipment) in Manipur.”

The MLAs urged the central government to implement interim planning mechanisms and make budgetary arrangements for the urgent development of tribal areas, pending a final political settlement. Their protest came just one day after leaders from the INDIA bloc in Manipur held a similar demonstration at Jantar Mantar, demanding the Prime Minister’s visit to the violence-hit state.

Opposition leaders, including Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh, Deputy Leader Gaurav Gogoi, and CPI General Secretary D Raja, participated in the demonstration, criticizing both the state and central governments for their failure to resolve the ethnic conflict, which has caused immense suffering for the people of Manipur.