Kuki organisation lifts counter-blockade on Manipur-Nagaland highway after talks with government
A Kuki civil society organisation has agreed to lift an indefinite counter-economic blockade and shutdown of National Highway-202 (NH-202) in the district of Ukhrul in Meikeland Manipur after meeting with some official from the State government.
In a meeting with both Manipur Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam and BJP legislator Thokchom Radheshyam in Ukhrul, the Working Committee of the Kuki Civil Society Organisation has decided to lift the blockade with effect from 4:30 pm Tuesday.
A verbal deal was made during this meeting and signed handwritten in the meeting,” the committee stated. In the presence of the government delegation, the organisation had been assured that the authorities would see to it that it was safe and secure for NH-202, which would help ease traffic along the stretch of NH-202 that connects Manipur with Nagaland’s adjoining states.
The guarantees also covered the free and non-discriminatory flow of ‘essential commodities’ – a problem that had come up, as supply and transport were being cut back.
Counter-Blockade Began in July
Protests by the Kuki group to block some national highways started on July 27 in response to an economic blockade on those roads by the Kuki organisation. Since 5 August, the shutdown of Kuki was exacerbated.
The Naga blockade coincided with a call for justice for six Naga whose corpses were found in June 10 mutilated bodies. They have claimed that they were kidnapped by Kuki people on May 13th.
The United Naga Council has yet to make an official announcement for the scheduled end of its extended economic blockade.
Tensions Continue in Manipur
Riots erupted between the Naga community and the Kuki-Zo community after the twin ambushes on May 13 in which four persons including three Christian leaders were killed. After that, captives from either community were taken off, a few of whom were released in May, while the rest of the Kuki-Zo were released on June 9th.
The dead bodies of all the six Nagas were found the next day.
It started as an ethnic clash between the Meitei and Kuki communities in 2023 that involved several other communities in the ethnic conflict in Manipur. The successive outbreak of the clashes has caused the community to further fracture itself in ethnicity and has cast a significant impact on the movement of people, supplies and access to areas dominated by various ethnic groups.