IMPHAL: The Thadou Community International (TCI) flatly rejected the statement made by Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) chairman Henlianthang Thanglet during the organisation’s arrogant press conference on June 25 in Churachandpur. The TCI said the KZC is merely another proxy and mouthpiece of the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), “the apex body of the controversial ‘Any Kuki tribes’ and Kuki Suspension of Operation (SoO) militant groups.
The Thadou body said the Kuki-Zo Council’s “belated, boastful admission that six innocent Naga civilians, including pastors, were murdered in a barbaric manner out of ’emotion’ or as a ‘mistake’—while simultaneously using the derogatory term ‘Kacha Naga’—exposes a Kuki supremacist attitude and a total disregard for human life”.
Far from an apology, the TCI said this statement rubs salt into a deep wound. “The victims’ bodies were recovered, mutilated and dismembered; their flesh was allegedly cooked and fed to their families, and the remains were hidden for a month”, the TCI stated, adding, “This denotes calculated, premeditated slaughter, not emotional outbursts. This savagery mirrors the brutal August 2025 murder of Thadou martyr Nehkam Jomhao by Kuki militants, revealing a chilling, systemic pattern of extreme violence”.
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The TCI then said it completely rejected the KZC narrative claiming that the three massacred Thadou Baptist Association (TBA) pastors—Rev. Dr V. Sitlhou, Rev. Kaigoulun Lhouvum, and Pastor Paogoulen Sitlhou—were Kukis. The TCO said these leaders were murdered on May 13, 2026, in a Kuki-militant-dominated area near an illegal Kuki Revolutionary Army/Kuki National Organisation check post between Kotzim and Kotlen, where an Assam Rifles post is also located. “This false narrative is a malicious attempt to exploit deceased Thadou church leaders, advance a Kuki political agenda, and shield the real perpetrators—the Kuki militants”, it added. The Thadou body then said that available evidence directly implicates this agenda. “Notably, just days before his death on May 9, 2026, Rev. Dr V. Sitlhou, a lifelong champion of the gospel, peace, and Thadou identity, firmly refused to dedicate the Kuki-Zo flag, fiercely asserting a distinct Thadou identity”, the TCI also said. The location, timing, and execution of these killings point directly to the targeted elimination of Thadou peace leaders to obliterate the Thadou identity, it further said.
Furthermore, the TCO said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigation’s mislabeling of these Thadou church leaders as Kuki—based blindly on a Manipur police handover note—is deeply alarming. It appears to be a deliberate strategy to protect the perpetrators and bury the truth.” It is increasingly obvious that state actors are not merely appeasing violent Kuki factions; the government itself appears to be hijacked and run by Kuki supremacist groups”, the Thadou body alleged, adding, “Ultimately, it must be acknowledged that ‘Kuki’ is not an inherent ethnic group or a collective of tribes, but an extremist, violent, and supremacist ideology, and those who subscribe to it”. The TCO said there is no Kuki in Manipur other than the “Any Kuki tribes” classification of 2003.
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The Thadou body then asked, “Why has not a single suspect been arrested in either incident of May 13?” It further questioned, “Is the state freezing justice to protect the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement and the parties to it?” To uncover the truth, authorities must immediately arrest the leaders of the Kuki militant groups operating in the massacre zone, including the head/chairman of the unified command of Kuki SoO and non-SoO groups, alongside their proxy and front organisations like Kuki Inpi, KSO, and KZC, said the TCI. They cannot be allowed to evade accountability, and their aggressive disinformation campaign must be stopped, it added.
The TCI then said the striking similarities in timing, methods, and circumstances indicate that the masterminds behind the execution of the three Thadou pastors and the six Naga civilians share the exact same agenda and operational network. “The blatant contradiction between the earlier denials by Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) and the recent admission by the KZC—which they bizarrely retracted the very next day—points to high-level orchestration, concealment, and obstruction of justice”, it added.
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The TCI then said justice cannot be reduced to public relations stunts or press conference spectacles. Selective apologies and weaponized victimhood cannot shield those responsible for mutilation, desecration, and targeted assassinations, it also said.
The TCI then said it will relentlessly expose the facts until justice is served. “For too long, Thadous have been forced into silence by Kuki chauvinism. That silence must never be mistaken for consent. We call on all right-thinking people, government authorities, and all Indian and international communities to support the Thadou community in breaking free from the grip of Kuki supremacy and terrorism”, the Thadou body said. Every Thadou must now stand up for their rights, reject the Kuki label, exit Kuki institutions, and completely disassociate from all Kuki organisations and activities, the TCI asserted, adding, “The world must recognise the destructive nature of the violent Kuki supremacist ideology, its extremist movement, and the immense harm it inflicts on society wherever it is propagated”.
