Imphal, August 14: The Thadou Students’ Association (TSA) has strongly condemned what it calls “repeated interference” by the Kuki Inpi Assam (KIA), the Kuki Liberation Army/Kuki Liberation Organisation (KLA/KLO), and other Kuki SoO-linked militants in Thadou affairs.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the TSA criticised recent remarks by KLA/KLO chief Kaiminthang Thangew, following the “Road to Peace – Covenant of Understanding” meeting held in Imphal on August 6 between Thadou Inpi Manipur and various Manipur civil society organisations.

According to the TSA, Mr. Thangew directed the Kuki Inpi Assam and the Kuki Students’ Organisation, Assam (KSO-A), to convene an emergency public consultative meeting on August 11 at Songpijang Community Hall, Haflong. He allegedly compelled several Thadou chiefs, who are not Kukis, to attend the meeting under duress.

During the gathering, Mr. Thangew reportedly declared that five innocent Thadou leaders from Assam who attended the Imphal peace meeting would be subjected to the customary ritual “Salamsat” as a penalty before Kuki Inpi Assam — a move the TSA called “illegal, illegitimate, and utterly unacceptable to the Thadou people.”

The TSA made clear that the Thadou community is distinct from the Kuki community and is not subordinate to it in any way. It reiterated that Thadou Inpi Assam and its units in Dima Hasao and Karbi Anglong are fully independent, not under the control of Kuki Inpi Assam, Kuki SoO groups, or any militant organisation.

“No participant of the Thadou Inpi Manipur Road to Peace initiative from among the Thadous of Assam will perform any Salamsat ritual to Kuki Inpi Assam, regardless of threats or intimidation,” the statement warned, urging the public not to be misled by propaganda.

The TSA also pointed out that this was not an isolated incident, citing the alleged halting of the Hun-Thadou Cultural Festival 2025 in Guwahati under Mr. Thangew’s direction as another example of interference.

Calling such intrusions “unacceptable, unwarranted, and detrimental to peaceful coexistence,” the TSA appealed to Kuki Inpi Assam, KLA/KLO, and related entities to cease meddling in Thadou affairs.

It also demanded the immediate withdrawal of the August 11 statements and urged the government to take “prompt and decisive action” to ensure justice and fairness.