Fourteen Kuki civilians held in Manipur’s Senapati district were released on Tuesday, June 9, and returned to Taphou Kuki village in Kangpokpi district after 27 days in captivity. The United Naga Council (UNC) and Naga civil society organisations (CSOs) facilitated the release. Six Naga men who went missing during the same cycle of violence remain untraced.
Manipur Police confirmed that the 14 individuals were handed over to Senapati Police and the district administration by the CSOs of Senapati district after verification and medical examination. Security was arranged along the route, and the individuals were formally transferred to the chief of Taphou Kuki village through a handing-over memorandum.
The crisis began on May 13, when three church leaders belonging to the Thadou community were ambushed and shot dead in Kangpokpi district, triggering retaliatory abductions from both the Kuki and Naga communities. Reports vary on the total number taken hostage, with The Hindu citing at least 44 civilians and Hindustan Times reporting 48, across Kangpokpi and Senapati districts. No arrests have been made in connection with the killing of the three church leaders. On May 15, both sides released 14 hostages each, but 14 Kukis and six Naga men remained unaccounted for on their respective sides until Tuesday.
UNC president Ng Lorho said the release was made on humanitarian grounds and in response to appeals from church bodies and political leaders. He cited the commitment made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, conveyed through Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, that the government would work to establish the status of the six missing Nagas. “Nagas are cultured people, we uphold our ethics and respect international human rights law,” Lorho told reporters.
The UNC had previously announced a June 1 release but deferred it, stating the decision was on account of the “prevailing sentiments of the Naga public.” The eventual release followed sustained appeals from church bodies, including the Baptist World Alliance and councils of Naga Baptist churches, alongside personal interventions from the Chief Ministers of Nagaland and Meghalaya.
Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio welcomed the development on social media. “I welcome the safe and humane release of the Kuki hostages by the United Naga Council and Naga civil society organisations,” he wrote on X, while renewing his appeal for the return of the six missing Nagas. Meghalaya CM Conrad K. Sangma also praised the move, appealing to Kuki civil society organisations to “reciprocate this noble gesture by ensuring the immediate and unconditional release of the six Naga civilians.”
One of those released, Paotinkai Chongloi, told reporters, “We were given the best food available in the area twice a day with tea and we did not face any hardship during our captivity.”
The whereabouts of the six missing Naga men remain the central unresolved issue. Among them are Manu Thiumai and Dilip Thiumai, who their family members say were abducted while returning from a wedding in Kangpokpi. “We want the government to find our men. Even if they cannot do justice, the government should at least find their bodies and give us some closure,” Manu’s wife Kacheak Liu told Hindustan Times.
Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), the apex body of Kuki tribes in the state, has denied holding any Naga individuals, maintaining that all those abducted from the Kuki side on May 13 were already released. The National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), in a statement issued on June 10, appealed to Kuki civil society organisations to “facilitate the immediate and safe release of the remaining six Naga hostages, including two pastors and four civilians,” and called on the Union and state governments for “a clear roadmap with a specific timeline” on restoring peace in Manipur.
The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), in a statement issued by General Secretary Rev. Vijayesh Lal, welcomed the release of the 14 Kuki civilians while expressing continued concern for those still missing. The EFI called on “churches and Christian leaders across all communities in Manipur and the wider Northeast to continue serving as instruments of prayer, peace, dialogue, and reconciliation.”
The Kuki CSO Working Committee in Ukhrul, in a statement dated June 9, drew attention to what it described as an earlier and less-acknowledged humanitarian act, claiming that Kuki-Zo groups had on March 12 facilitated the release of 21 civilians, described as 18 Tangkhuls and three others from a neutral community, amid prevailing tensions. “Apparently, humanitarian gestures become more visible when performed by some and conveniently forgettable when initiated by others,” the committee stated. It welcomed Tuesday’s release while maintaining, on the question of the six missing Nagas, that “honest responses should not be mistaken for irresponsibility simply because they fail to satisfy preferred narratives.”
Fresh violence was also reported on Tuesday. A Kuki farmer, identified as Haogin Louvum, 55, was shot dead allegedly by armed miscreants while working in a paddy field at Lansan Kuki village in Tamenglong district, according to Kangpokpi Police.
The Kuki-Naga tensions have developed alongside the continuing Meitei-Kuki conflict, which erupted on May 3, 2023, and has, according to Manipur Police, claimed more than 260 lives and displaced over 70,000 people across the state.
