Kangpokpi | March 4, 2025
The Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) launch a scathing attack on the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), accusing it of promoting an ethno-centric narrative against the Kuki tribal community.
In a press communique issued today, COTU claimed that COCOMI and its affiliates have played a direct role in persecuting and marginalizing Kuki people, citing incidents of mass violence since May 3, 2023. The statement comes in response to COCOMI’s accusations after the former marked 22nd Remembrance Day Observance at the Martyr Cemetery in Phaijang on March 3, 2025 with resolution adopted which irked COCOMI.
COTU alleged that the resolutions adopted at the event were not about unity or reconciliation but a reaffirmation of anti-Kuki policies. The group further accused COCOMI with a ‘history without principles’ by acting as mouthpiece for armed Meitei militias, including Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun, and sometimes claims to represent the masses.
Regarding the January 24, 2024, incident, where all valley-elected representatives, including a Member of Parliament, were allegedly forced to swear allegiance to Arambai Tenggol under a charter of demands, COTU reminds COCOMI that the later have any moral ground to question Kukis democratic rights to protect and protest.
Reaffirming its commitment to protecting the Kuki people, COTU emphasized that its formation after May 3, 2023, was a direct response to what it calls Meitei supremacist oppression. The group stated that while organizations like COCOMI, Meitei Leepun, and Arambai Tenggol have long pushed a hegemonic and fascist agenda, the Kuki community seeks to live freely within the framework of the Indian Constitution.
The statement also appraise the central leadership that the demands of Kukis and Meiteis are fundamentally opposite. “While Kuki-Zo community aspires for equal rights within India, the Meitei leadership, CoTU claims, seeks secession from the Union of India”, the statement concluded.
