The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) has outrightly rejected the reports of the Independent People’s Tribunal, terming them as one-sided narratives that vilify the Meitei community while legitimizing the separatist aspirations of Chin-Kuki narco-terrorist groups.
“We find the report to be misleading, engineered, and deliberately structured to appease separatist agendas. The contents reflect bias, selective omission, and fabrication, demonising an entire community while shielding the role of narco-terrorist groups,” stated its Convener, Khuraijam Athouba, while addressing the media on Tuesday at its office in Imphal.
The COCOMI convener said it was “politically motivated” and warned that such narratives could disrupt the fragile calm that has emerged in the state after months of turmoil.
Athouba also said the document deliberately overlooked the role of key Kuki-Zo outfits such as the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), the Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU), and the Kuki-Zo Council, but singled out Meitei organisations like ‘Arambai Tenggol’ and ‘Meitei Leepun.’
Highlighting the Meitei community’s service to the nation, Athouba pointed out that many youths from Manipur serve in the armed forces, some having sacrificed their lives in operations ranging from Afghanistan to recent missions within the country. He further argued that the Meiteis have made notable contributions in sports, culture, and science, while challenging PUCL to cite comparable examples from the Kuki-Zo community.
The COCOMI leader also disputed PUCL’s claims linking the present conflict to a Manipur High Court order on the Scheduled Tribe status demand, clarifying that the Chief Justice had already ruled that the court had no authority to decide the matter.
On PUCL’s observation that Manipur is undergoing a “de facto separation,” Athouba maintained that the present security arrangements are temporary and should not be interpreted as a political partition.
