The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an influential Meitei organisation, expressed strong disappointment with the Independent People’s Tribunal report released by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) on the ongoing Manipur conflict.
The COCOMI termed the 694-page report as “biased, misleading and politically engineered” while legitimising the “separatist agendas of Chin-Kuki armed” groups. COCOMI said the report, prepared under the chairmanship of former Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph, was “deliberately structured to appease separatist aspirations” with “selective omissions and fabrications”.
The Meitei body alleged that the tribunal misrepresented Meitei’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status, spread false narratives on the outbreak of the ethnic violence, and presented a one-sided portrayal of the victims. It also accused the report of ignoring the role of Kuki-Chin armed groups despite public admissions by their leaders, while repeatedly naming Meitei groups like Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun.
COCOMI further accused the report of omitting incidents such as the May 3 Torbung-Kangvai attack, the Jakuradhop massacre in Jiribam, and enforced disappearances, while endorsing “separatist narratives,” justifying poppy cultivation, and making “false historical claims”.
COCOMI’s statement came a day after the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) welcomed the report, describing it as the most detailed study of the violence that erupted on May 3, 2023. In a statement issued on Monday, Ginza Vualzong, Secretary of Information and Publicity, KZC, said the tribunal gave importance to the voices of victims, survivors, and others affected by the unrest.
The KZC stated that the report was a fair and clear account of the conflict, reflected ground realities, and demonstrated that the Meiteis in the valley and the Kuki-Zo people in the hills cannot continue under a single administration.
Against this backdrop, COCOMI said it would hold a “public review” of the report and pursue legal action against the PUCL and tribunal members for “defamatory and unfounded statements”. It vowed to mobilise civil society, intellectuals, and legal experts to “safeguard Manipur’s unity and integrity”.
