UKHRUL: In a landmark assertion of indigenous identity and peaceful resilience, Thadou Inpi Assam (TIA) and Thadou Inpi Manipur organised the official nationwide observance of Thadou Martyrs’ Day on Sunday, 13 September 2026. The event was held under the banner, “Let us remember, honour, and unite.”
The central ceremony took place at Thadou Veng, Diphu (Karbi Anglong district, Assam), marking exactly one year since Thadou peace martyr Nehkam Jomhao was laid to rest with full community honours on 13 September 2025. Simultaneous observances—featuring solemn prayer services, candlelight vigils, and minute-of-silence tributes—were held across Thadou villages and major urban centres, including Guwahati, Shillong, Delhi, and Bangalore.
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The key event was held at the Graveside Memorial Service where community leaders, traditional village chiefs (Haosa), and civil society representatives gathered at the burial site of Nehkam Jomhao for a solemn wreath-laying ceremony led by Pastor Seisem Thadou.
TIA Vice President Apao Thadou opened the central programme and TIA President Haosei Thadou formally unfurled the official Martyrs’ Flag to honour those who sacrificed their lives in defence of the Thadou community and identity (Thadou Nam).
Key representatives from the Thadou Literature Society (TLS), Thadou Students’ Association (TSA), Thadou Women Association (TWA), and Thadou Veng Youth Club delivered addresses urging vigilance, unity, and cultural preservation.
The observance paid tribute to Thadou Peace Martyr Nehkam Jomhao—Chairman of TLS Assam, who was abducted and brutally murdered in Manja, Assam, on 30 August 2025 by Kuki armed militants, following his participation in the Road to Peace – Covenant of Community Understanding conference in Imphal. The community also commemorated Thadou victims of the 1992–1993 aggression against Thadous in Assam by Kuki armed militants led by Chin Kuki Resistance Force (CKRF) later known as Kuki Liberation Army (KLA).
Households, churches, and institutions prominently displayed white flags, symbolising “Thadou being a peace-loving community, remembrance without hatred, and unity without abandoning identity”.
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Community leadership issued an urgent call to government bodies, law enforcement, media and all leaders and members of different communities to cease the misidentification of Thadous as “Kuki”. Leaders reasserted that Thadou is a distinct, independent Scheduled Tribe without any suffix or prefix—historically validated by the establishment of the Thadou Mauzadar in Assam (1862) and official recognition in the 1881 Census of India—and remains the single largest indigenous tribe in Manipur.
Thadou leadership called upon state and central authorities to urgently protect Thadou communities and their cultural identity from aggressive campaigns and violence waged by Kuki supremacist armed groups, particularly Kuki militant groups under the Suspension of Operations (SoO) with the Government of India and state government.
“We remember our martyrs not to cultivate hatred, but to preserve their truth and memory. We honour their supreme sacrifice to affirm the sacred value of human life, constitutional rights, and enduring peace. Genuine peace requires truth, equality, and mutual respect—never coercion, violence, or identity suppression.”
“Thadou is a distinct ethnic group of people. Thadou is not Kuki, or underneath Kuki, or part of Kuki, but a separate, independent entity from Kuki. Any organization that incorporates “Thadou” but espouses Kuki and mis-portrays Thadou as Kuki or a part of Kuki is illegitimate and does not represent Thadou people and interest” – Thadou Convention, 2024.
