Imphal, July 20 The Kuki-Zo Council (KZC), the apex body of the Kuki-Zo tribal community, on Sunday once again urged the Foothills Naga Coordination Committee (FNCC) to immediately lift the shutdown and allow the safe passage to the people belonging to the Kuki-Zo community through the Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur.
The FNCC called for an indefinite shutdown from midnight on Friday on the movement of Kuki-Zo tribals within the foothill regions of Naga-inhabited areas.
The FNCC had stated that the shutdown is a peaceful but firm protest against what it describes as threats to the ancestral land, identity, and security of the Naga people.
FNCC Secretary B. Robin Kabui, in a statement, said that the first concern is the proposed construction of roads through Naga ancestral territories without prior knowledge or consent of the Naga people. The committee termed it a blatant disregard for traditional ownership rights.
The KZC, in a statement on Sunday, reiterated that the German-Tiger road in the Naga people's inhabited areas is a humanitarian lifeline that was initiated by Kuki-Zo civil society organisations out of sheer necessity. KZC’s Secretary, Information and Publicity, Ginza Vualzong, said that following the ethnic violence that erupted on May 3, 2023, it became unsafe and impossible for Kuki-Zo people to travel through Meitei-dominated areas.
“As a result, the community had no choice but to revive and upgrade an old inter-village track, now known as the German-Tiger Road, to connect the districts of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi. Similarly, as Sugnu is no longer accessible, we are compelled to depend solely on the Singheu route to stay connected with Churachandpur, Chandel, and Tengnoupal, despite the absence of a viable bridge,” Vualzong said in a statement.
They strongly condemned the ‘baseless and malicious accusations being circulated by certain Meitei groups branding the German-Tiger Road and Singheu Road as “drug routes.” These claims are entirely unfounded and without any legitimate evidence.
Such narratives are not only irresponsible but are clearly intended to malign the Kuki-Zo community and disrupt the already fragile connectivity between Kuki-Zo inhabited regions of Manipur, the KZC stated.
The KZC urged the central government to reject these “divisive and baseless allegations” and, instead, take steps to improve the German-Tiger Road and Singheu Road as essential inter-district lifelines.
--IANS
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