Kuki, other tribal communities protest in Delhi against ‘state’s failure to protect rights’

New Delhi, June 02, 2023 (PPI-OT): The Kuki and other tribal communities have been protesting in the Indian capital against the Manipur government’s failure to protect their communities across the country.

Following the violence in Manipur, a group of students from the Meitei community attacked Kuki students in Delhi University’s North Campus. The protests demanding the restoration of normalcy and peace in Manipur and other states have been going on since May 29 at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.

The road from the Janpath metro station that led to the protest ground has been heavily barricaded. On reaching the protest site, a student from the Kuki community was narrating an incident wherein her university dorm was attacked after violence erupted in Manipur. She said she had to lock herself in the bathroom to escape any harm. Expressing her anxious condition at the time, she said he could not even call her Meitei friends for help.

Another speaker, who’s also from the Kuki community, described how a Kuki tribal leader’s car was attacked in Manipur and his driver was killed. He also claimed that no media outlet had reported this incident.

The protesters said they expect the government to officially acknowledge their demands to protect the rights of the Kuki community. They said the state machinery, including the police force and the chief minister, have failed to protect Manipur’s tribal communities.

They demanded that the Indian government restore normalcy and peace in Manipur and other states where violence has spread, by giving the Kuki/Zomi tribes separate administrative and legislative authority over their communities.

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