Manipur protestors demand release of Kuki-Zo leaders

Scores of Kuki-Zo people on Tuesday (July 14, 2026) staged a protest rally in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district, demanding the release of three community leaders in connection with arson in the adjoining Imphal West district on July 11.

The three leaders are Kammang Lhouvum, a retired Indian Defence Estates Service officer; Ngamboi Haokip, and Pagin Hangshing. According to the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), which organised the rally, the trio’s arrest was a “biased” action by the security forces against Kuki-Zo civil society leaders.

Condemning the arrests, the protestors sought an end to the “undue harassment” of Kuki-Zo leaders. The CoTU also submitted a memorandum to Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen, demanding the unconditional release of the three leaders.

Copy sent to DGP

Copies of the memorandum were forwarded to the Manipur government’s Security Advisor and the Director General of Police for necessary action.

CoTU leaders said the July 11 incident, in which five abandoned houses were torched in the Kanto Sabal and Leimakhong areas in Imphal West district, was the culmination of months of public frustration over shortages of food, medicines, and other essential supplies due to the alleged highway blockade.

The Meitei-dominated Imphal West district adjoins the Kuki-majority Kangpokpi district.

They lamented that the State machinery acted swiftly after the July 11 incident, but has been slow to respond to the prolonged humanitarian crisis affecting people in Kangpokpi district due to the blockade.

The CoTU said the government should immediately release the three leaders and focus on reopening the routes affected by the “communal blockade”, which has “strangled the livelihoods” of the people.