UKHRUL: The All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur (ANSAM) has strongly condemned the harmful campaign aimed at criminalizing Saloni Tony, President of the Senapati District Students’ Association (SDSA), in connection with the alleged abduction of 23 Kukis from Taphou Kuki Village. The student body emphasized that the accusations lack legal validity, sufficient evidence, and basic standards of constitutional integrity.
“Such vilification is not simply a reckless act of defamation; it represents a disturbing form of communal manipulation designed to undermine Naga civil institutions and inflame an already tense socio-political environment. The public denouncement of a Naga student leader based on mere speculation, before any legal proceedings, highlights a troubling trend of ethnically motivated persecution disguised as civic activism,” stated ANSAM.
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The Naga student body also criticized the protest organized by the Kuki Students’ Organisation Delhi & NCR at Jantar Mantar on May 16, 2026. During this protest, loud accusations against the Tangkhul-led NSCN-IM and its alleged affiliates were prominently voiced while there was a striking silence regarding the six innocent Naga villagers currently held captive by Kuki militants.
“Nagas want to be clear: What about the six innocent Naga villagers abducted and held hostage by Kuki militants? Where is the humanitarian outrage for these innocent Nagas? Why are there no calls for their release? Where are the self-righteous advocates of justice while innocent Naga civilians remain victims of militant brutality and coerced confinement?” they questioned. They further noted that the glaring imbalance of outrage reveals a type of selective moral failure and communal hypocrisy that is particularly troubling.
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“This partisan outrage is neither legally defensible nor morally sound; rather, it is a dangerous tool designed to heighten ethnic conflict, legitimize prejudicial narratives, and politically marginalize Naga institutions through orchestrated disparagement. The Naga people will not bow to propagandistic intimidation nor submit to ethnocentric misinformation campaigns aimed at undermining our historical legitimacy, political awareness, and collective dignity,” they asserted.
ANSAM demands the immediate and unconditional release of the six innocent Naga hostages and the retraction of all unverified allegations against Saloni Tony, President of the Senapati District Students’ Association, which lack legal foundation. They call on the appropriate authorities to conduct thorough, impartial, and constitutionally sound investigations into every act of abduction, violence, and militant coercion, regardless of community affiliation. Silence regarding the suffering of innocent Nagas while amplifying politically motivated accusations elsewhere is not a form of justice; it is a clear manifestation of moral decay and the most blatant form of societal hypocrisy.