TSA slams Government over "escalating violence"
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, October 23 2026: The Thadou Students' Association (TSA) has condemned the Government's failure to contain escalating Kuki-Naga and Kuki-Meitei violence, restore the rule of law and protect civilians in Manipur.

In a statement, TSA said that repeated condemnations and ex-gratia announcements have failed to restore public confidence.

Is the Government exercising authority, or are armed groups increasingly dictating the terms under which people live,? it asked.

Although the perpetrators of the 19 October Sunurok Hills massacre of three Meitei civilians, identified as active cadres of the Kuki National Front (Nehlun) have been arrested, those responsible for numerous other killings/attacks remain at large, with no arrests reported in those cases, it claimed.

It asked what justification can there be for the failure to apprehend perpetrators who have filmed acts of brutal violence, including beheadings, circulated footage of severed heads, and exposed their faces in horrifying, ISIS-style acts of terror.

"This includes the beheading of Ajinpou Ringkangmai, a Naga villager from Makui, on 10 October 2026 in the Makui Ashang area of Kangpokpi district.

One of the reported perpetrators who carried out the beheading of Ringkangmai, Mangminhao Kipgen of J Songtun village, Kangpokpi district, is an active cadre of the Kuki National Front (KNF-P) and the nephew of Jangboi Kipgen," it claimed.

It alleged that Jangboi Kipgen is the Home-cum-Finance Secretary of KNF-P, a Kuki armed group operating under the Suspension of Operations (SoO) arrangement as well as the de facto chief of the non-SoO KNF(N) and chairman of the Unified Command of Kuki armed militant groups operating in Kangpokpi district, comprising both SoO and non-SoO groups.

Saying that the Government must pursue those responsible and investigate killings, village attacks and arson in Kangpokpi, Kamjong and other districts, TSA added that the Government must also investigate allegations against Jangboi Kipgen and his accomplices, take legal action, and hold them to account.

Why has the Government allegedly failed to demonstrate effective action against Jangboi Kipgen despite the serious crimes and killings he has reportedly been accused of over the past three years, it asked.

Saying that the alleged failure to hold perpetrators accountable fuels the perception that Kuki SoO armed groups and other armed organisations enjoy impunity, TSA said that the SoO arrangement is no licence to commit crimes or evade prosecution.

No armed group, political connection or organisational position should place anyone above the law, it added.

TSA further said that violence in Chassad is equally alarming.

"Reports indicate that both sides have claimed armed militants crossed the international border from Myanmar and attacked villages inside India.

If substantiated, these are grave security threats requiring urgent investigation and measures to prevent further incursions," it added.

The Government's duty is to prevent violence, protect civilians and prosecute perpetrators, not merely condemn killings, TSA maintained.

"It is disgraceful that people have felt compelled to bring dead bodies to the Chief Minister's official residence to demand action.

This extraordinary protest reflects a profound crisis of public confidence.

The Chief Minister must not wait for bodies at his gate before recognising the urgency of his responsibilities.

The Government must take stringent and immediate action against those responsible for crimes and killings, rather than dismissing them as communal violence or allowing fear of community retaliation against the Government to deter law enforcement," TSA said.

TSA urged all warring parties to pursue peace through non-violent means and called upon Thadous to uphold their distinct identity as Thadou, not Kuki.

The Government, community leaders, media and public must respect this identity and refrain from identifying Thadous as Kuki, it said and added that Thadous have borne the brunt of violence involving Kuki groups since the early 1990s-the Kuki-Naga, Kuki-Zomi, and the ongoing Kuki-Meitei and Kuki-Naga violence.

It also said that the Government must stop treating civilian deaths as routine law-and-order problems managed through condemnations and compensation.

Comment