Kukis demand hostage release
Source: The Sangai Express

Kangpokpi, May 16 2026: Huge crowds of Kuki and Zo people poured onto the streets of Motbung in Kangpokpi district on Saturday as the extended 48-hour total shutdown by Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) entered its first day amid escalating tensions over the continued detention of Kuki and Zo civilians and the brutal killing of three church leaders.

Under the aegis of the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) and in line with KIM's Statewide call for democratic agitation across Kuki and Zo inhabited regions, the protest at Motbung Bazar demanded the immediate, safe, and unconditional release of all Kuki-Zo hostages and urgent implementation of the charter of demands submitted to the Government of India by KIM .

The protestors waved placards, raised slogans, and marched from Motbung Bazar to Charhajare and back.

Senior Kuki and Zo leadership from KIM, Kuki Inpi Sadar Hills, CoTU and other prominent civil society figures, addressed the gathering.

Speaking to the media, KIM information secretary Janghaolun Haokip said the coordinated protests across Kangpokpi, Churachandpur, and other Kuki-Zo regions were a unified humanitarian and political response to "unimaginable trauma inflicted upon hostage families" .

He asserted that the suffering of hostage families violates every constitutional and humanitarian principle and urged the Government of India and security agencies to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of all detainees.

With another round of protests scheduled for Sunday, CoTU signalled that public mobilisation in Kangpokpi district will intensify unless all hostages are released and the charter of demands is acted upon without delay.

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