TSA slams KLO threat to Assam Thadou chiefs
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, August 13 2025: The Thadou Students' Association (TSA) has issued a strong condemnation of what it describes as "recent actions and inflammatory statements" by Kaiminthang Thangew, chief of the Kuki Liberation Army/Kuki Liberation Organisation (KLA/KLO) .

The comments were allegedly made following the "Road to Peace - Covenant of Understanding" meeting held in Imphal on August 6, 2025 between Thadou Inpi Manipur and various Manipur civil society organisations.

According to a press release from the TSA, Thangew reportedly directed the Kuki Inpi Assam and the Kuki Students' Organisation, Assam (KSO-A), to convene an emergency public consultative meeting at Songpijang community hall, Haflong, on August 11, 2025.The statement alleged that he compelled several Thadou chiefs, who are not Kukis, to attend the meeting under duress, and that they participated out of fear.

During his address at the Haflong gathering, Thangew is alleged to have incited Kuki subscribers in Dima Hasao district by declaring that five Thadou leaders from Assam, who had attended the Imphal peace meeting, would be subjected to the customary "Salamsat" ritual as a form of penalty before Kuki Inpi Assam.

The TSA described such an act as "illegal, illegitimate, and utterly unacceptable" to the Thadou people.

The association emphasised that the Thadou community is entirely distinct from the Kuki community, and neither part of it nor subordinate to it in any way.

It asserted that Thadou Inpi Assam, including its units in Dima Hasao and Karbi Anglong, is fully independent and not under the authority of Kuki Inpi Assam, Kuki SoO groups, or any affiliated militant organisation.

The TSA further declared that no participant in the Thadou Inpi Manipur "Road to Peace" initiative from among the Thadous of Assam would undertake the "Salamsat" ritual, regardless of "threats, intimidation, or pressure from Kuki supremacists" .

The public were warned not to be misled by what the association described as propaganda or false claims to the contrary.

It also alleged that this was not the first instance of interference in Thadou affairs by Kuki Inpi Assam, the KLA/KLO, or Thangew, citing the halting of the Hun-Thadou Cultural Festival in Guwahati earlier this year as having been carried out under his direction.

It said such repeated intrusions were "unacceptable, unwarranted, and detrimental to peaceful coexistence".

The TSA urged Kuki Inpi Assam, the KLA/KLO, and related entities to refrain from interfering in Thadou interests, matters, or internal affairs.

It also demanded the immediate withdrawal of the statements and actions made on August 11, and called on the government to take "prompt and decisive" steps to ensure justice and fairness.

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