UKHRUL: The Liangmai Naga Council, Eastern Zone (LNC-EZ) has warned that any unauthorized Kuki settlement established within Naga ancestral territories, without the knowledge and consent of indigenous Naga landowners, would be identified and evicted without delay or negotiation.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the LNC-EZ stated that it was shocked at the at the confirmed establishment of an unlawful Kuki militant camp in Kharam Vaiphei village in Saitu Gamphazol subdivision of Senapati district, Manipur, an area that indisputably falls within the ancestral domain of the Naga people.
“This encroachment is not merely an intrusion but a deliberate provocation and a direct affront to the very existence of the Naga community,” it stated.
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It maintained that in recent months, the state government under the guidance of the Governor appealed to the Foothills Naga Coordination Committee (FNCC) to suspend the democratic agitation, assuring the safeguarding of Naga territorial rights against relentless expansionist agenda.
“In good faith and in the interest of peace, we complied. Yet today, we are faced with this backdoor attempt to provide safe haven to foreign militant groups in the very heart of our land,” the LNC-EZ stated, while adding that the ongoing construction of illegal Kuki militant camps at Kharam Vaiphei was being carried out openly, under the watch of Indian security forces and the Governor’s administration.
The LNC-EZ expressed doubts at the silence and inaction of the state’s commitment to its own assurances and responsibilities.
It warned that it would be compelled to take necessary measures to remove the illegal militant structures at Kharam Vaiphei if the government fails to immediately dismantle such illegal militant structures.
“We will not tolerate further deception wherein Kuki refugees and militant groups misuse our land as a shield for drug trafficking, arms smuggling, and other illicit activities that undermine regional stability. These criminal networks, allowed to flourish under the watch of both the Ministry of Home Affairs and the state government, have generated vast illegal wealth now being used to threaten indigenous peoples and distort demographic realities,” the LNC-EZ further stated.
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The LNC-EZ reminded the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Government of Manipur that Naga land is not a political bargaining chip.
“It is our identity, our inheritance, and the blood of our people. We have withstood decades of encroachment, betrayal, and manufactured narratives,” it asserted, adding the state and central governments must act swiftly, decisively, and responsibly.
“Any bloodshed in the region, arising from their failure to uphold the agreement signed between the government and FNCC will rest squarely upon them,” it cautioned.
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