IMPHAL, Aug. 13, 2025: The Thadou Students’ Association (TSA) has strongly condemned what it describes as repeated interference by the Kuki Inpi Assam (KIA), Kuki Liberation Army/Kuki Liberation Organisation (KLA/KLO), and other Kuki Suspension of Operations (SoO) militants in Thadou affairs, calling for the immediate withdrawal of recent statements and government intervention.
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| Alleged emergency public consultative meeting in Haflong on Aug 11, 2025. |
In a statement issued Wednesday, the TSA criticised KLA/KLO chief Kaiminthang Thangew for his alleged role in convening an “emergency public consultative meeting” in Haflong on August 11, 2025, following the Road to Peace – Covenant of Understanding meeting held in Imphal on August 6 between Thadou Inpi Manipur and various civil society organisations.
The association alleged that Thangew coerced several non-Kuki Thadou chiefs into attending the Haflong meeting “under duress” and announced that five Thadou leaders from Assam who attended the Imphal peace dialogue would be subjected to the customary Kuki ritual “Salamsat” as a penalty.
Calling the move “illegal, illegitimate, and utterly unacceptable,” the TSA stressed that the Thadou community is distinct from the Kuki community and is neither part of it nor subordinate to it. It affirmed that Thadou Inpi Assam and its units in Dima Hasao and Karbi Anglong operate independently of Kuki Inpi Assam, Kuki SoO groups, or any militant organisation.
“No participant of the Thadou Inpi Manipur Road to Peace initiative from among the Thadous of Assam will perform any ‘Salamsat’ ritual to Kuki Inpi Assam, regardless of threats or intimidation,” the statement declared, warning the Thadou public against “propaganda or false claims” to the contrary.
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The TSA also alleged a pattern of interference, citing the stoppage of the Hun-Thadou Cultural Festival 2025 in Guwahati as being carried out under Thangew’s direction. Such actions, it said, are “unacceptable, unwarranted, and detrimental to peaceful coexistence.”
Appealing to the KIA, KLA/KLO, and affiliated entities to cease all interference in Thadou matters, the association demanded the unconditional withdrawal of statements made on August 11 and urged the government to take “prompt and decisive action” to uphold justice and fairness. The statement was issued by TSA-GHQ spokesperson Vicky Thadou.
