UKHRUL: The Working Committee of the United Naga Council (UNC) has strongly rejected the statement made by the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust (KOHUR) accusing it of “deflecting attention” from the May 13 ambush that left three Thadou Baptist Church leaders dead and injuring others.
Refuting the accusation, UNC in a statement, clarified that the Nagas groups named by the Kukis as the perpetrators of the ambush have no reason whatsoever to target the Thadou church workers.
Ruling out that hands or complicity of Nagas in the ambush and murder of the three Thadou church leaders, it stated that infiltration into Kuki militants (German-Tiger) infested areas between Kotlen and Kozim by Naga armed groups is by any “standard foolish and even suicidal”.
“The KOHUR’s allegation is tactically and politically a mischief and exposes them and their hoodwinking exercise in futility,” the UNC statement read. It added that the attackers, based on reliable sources, reportedly spoke in Kuki dialect.
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It highlighted that the precision of the attack points to the fact that the two vehicles of the Church leaders were the prime target as there were reportedly other vehicles moving both behind and before the two Chuch leaders’ vehicles at the time of the incident.
“There were telling indications that the three church leaders were shot at from point-blank range, with Dr. Sitlhou alone being hit by 15 bullets. It is doubly clear that the perpetrators knew exactly when the victims vehicle would be reaching the ambush spot, who was seated where and in which vehicle, etc. It is definitely only Kukis who will be able to access such intelligence,” the statement further read.
It alleged that the Kukis used the invalidated statement of ZUF-J as fact for their fake propaganda.
“The ZUF-J has denied its hands in the ambush. They did not counter the ZUF-K’s statement of denial of involvement. ZUF-J’s statement came first and was followed by the denial statement of ZUF-K… All Naga groups alleged by the Kukis as having committed the murder denied the same,” it added.
It further alleged that KOHUR’s assertion of Dr. Sitlhou as a projected peace-builder, strongly indicated that his efforts and engagements have a direct bearing to his murder, given the timing and his views and stand that he clearly declared and maintained in public.
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“All his efforts were deemed to be against Kuki political demand and hence had to be put to a stop,” the UNC stated, adding that the reason surrounding the murder that increasingly appeared plausible and veracious was that the crime was primarily associated with the controversy over “Kuki” and “Thadou” which has created rift between the two protagonists.
The UNC added that the background of conflict within the Thadou-speaking group is properly accounted in four Thadou Inpi Manipur (TIM)’s statements released on May 13, 14 and 17 along with February 2, 2026.
The statement of February 2, 2026 undernotes the long-drawn character saying “it has been 70 years” and occasioned the constitution of the Expert Committee consisting of anthropologists from NEHU and Manipur University on October 28, 1993. The findings are said to have confirmed that “Thadou” was the “established name of the language for over two centuries”. Further, the memorandum also undernotes the involvement of violence which was so particularly after 3 May, 2023 saying that “Thadou people were victims of attacks, displacement, and false portrayal as part of conflicting groups due to generic labeling under Kuki”, the UNC further stated.
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It continued, “On the day of gruesome killing, TIM in its condemnation statement undernotes the victimizing conditions saying that the Thadou people have repeatedly become victims of the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur due to misidentification. We strongly reiterate that Thadou is not Kuki”. In the statement what is surprising is that the identity of the killer of Nehkam Jomhao is identified with the killers of those three church leaders. Based on Thadou Convention 2024, the statement boldly reiterated that Thadou is not Kuki nor underneath Kuki, or part of Kuki but a separate, independent entity from Kuki. As such, the circumstances that led to the infamous cold-blooded murder of three priests point to the conflict between the two protagonists- Kuki and Thadou.”
The UNC also questioned why the Kukis disavow their knowledge about the six missing Naga captives, who of the wives of the three were held captive with them.
UNC demanded KOHUR to state their stance with concrete proofs and facts, if it wants to be “contrarian” in any manner.