UKHRUL: The Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) has strongly condemned the statement made by Manipur Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam regarding the possible pardoning of Arambai Tengol members involved in the Manipur conflict.
In a press statement issued on Wednesday, KIM described the Home Minister’s remarks as disgraceful and unacceptable, accusing him of openly declaring that “efforts are being made to avoid further arrests and crackdowns on Arambai Tenggol (AT) terrorists.” KIM said this amounted to a blatant proposal to pardon and protect a blood‑stained terror group responsible for some of the most heinous crimes against humanity committed against the Kuki‑Zo people.
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During a media interaction, the Home Minister reportedly stated that the government would hold talks with Arambai Tenggol and that those who have committed serious crimes would be held to account under the rule of law. However, he added that efforts would be made to “restrain,” taking into consideration the role these members had played for their community. He further said that they would consult the Chief Minister and the Union Home Minister to determine the extent to which their crimes could be pardoned, and would ensure that these decisions are implemented.
KIM asserted that Arambai Tenggol is not a civil society group but an armed radical Meitei terror organisation that has orchestrated and carried out targeted ethnic violence, including mass rapes, torture, and live burnings of Kuki‑Zo civilians. Shielding such a group, it said, is an insult to every Kuki‑Zo victim and a direct endorsement of impunity.
KIM also listed what it described as specific barbaric crimes committed by Arambai Tenggol members, including:
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- The brutal gang rape of Nengtinlhing Haokip (Lhingnu Haokip), an 18‑year‑old Kuki girl abducted in May 2023 near an ATM in Imphal. She was first assaulted by Meira Paibis, then handed over to armed, black‑shirted Arambai Tenggol members, taken to a hilltop in Langol, repeatedly gang‑raped, beaten with gun butts, and dumped in a creek. She suffered severe physical injuries and lifelong trauma, and ultimately succumbed to her wounds on 10 January 2026—dying without justice.
- The gang rape and brutal murder of Olivia Chongloi (Lhingneithem Olivia Chongloi, aged 21) and her friend Florence Hangshing (Nengpichong Florence Hangshing, aged 24), both from Khopibung, Kangpokpi district. On 4 May 2023 in Imphal, the two young women, who were working at Gamma Car Wash, were abducted by Arambai Tenggol members and associated Meitei mobs, gang‑raped, and murdered in cold blood. Their mutilated bodies were recovered after the assault.
- The cold‑blooded burning alive of Nehmang Kipgen, a hearing‑impaired Kuki man from S. Phailengkot village, who was abducted, had his limbs severed, and was then set on fire by Arambai Tenggol members acting in concert with state forces in May 2023.
- The horrific rape, torture, and burning alive of Zosangkim Hmar in Zairawn village, Jiribam, in November 2024. Arambai Tenggol assailants allegedly attacked her home, shot her in the leg, subjected her to third‑degree torture and rape while she was still alive, and then burned her. Her charred body was found with 99% burns and embedded nails.
- The cold‑blooded killing and mutilation of Kamlengsat Lunkim (aged 22–25, from Bongjang hamlet) and Kamminlal Lupheng, Kuki‑Zo village volunteers who were attacked by Meitei militants, including Arambai Tenggol members, in the Phailengmol area of Kangpokpi district. Their bodies were reportedly dragged with ropes, arms hacked off with machetes, faces stomped on, sprayed with bullets, and one palm severed and nailed to a tree—acts KIM described as extreme barbarity.
- The facilitation of and participation in the infamous naked parade and gang rape of Kuki‑Zo women in B. Phainom village, Kangpokpi district, on 4 May 2023, during which women were stripped naked, groped, and sexually assaulted in public, and one woman was gang‑raped while the mob watched and recorded the crime—part of what KIM termed the systematic terror campaign unleashed by radical Meitei groups, including Arambai Tenggol.
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KIM maintained that these are not isolated incidents but part of a deliberate pattern of ethnic cleansing, the use of rape as a weapon of war, and the live incineration of Kuki men, women, and children.
“How can any government, let alone the Home Minister, speak of ‘avoiding arrests’ for such perpetrators? This is not governance; this is open complicity and protection of predators,” it asked.
“KIM further stated, “This kind of government attitude—shielding Meitei rapists and murderers while denying justice to Kuki‑Zo victims—is exactly why the Kuki‑Zo people need a separate administration, safe from Meitei predators and the biased, Meitei‑dominated government in Imphal.”
Kuki Inpi Manipur demanded the immediate retraction of the Home Minister’s statement, the full‑scale arrest and prosecution of all Arambai Tenggol perpetrators, and an end to the culture of impunity. “We will never accept any pardon or protection for those who gang‑raped our daughters, hacked and burned our brothers and sisters alive, and paraded our women naked,” it cautioned.
