Kuki strike hits Manipur Monday July 8,2013

A 24-hour general strike called by the Kuki Statehood Demand Committee (KSDC) disrupted normalcy in all Kuki-dominated areas in Manipur on Monday July 8,2013

The KSDC was protesting against the refusal by the Union government to carve out a Kuki State from Manipur and holding talks with Kuki militant organisations

Note
1)Manipur people include the Meetei, Pangal, Naga, Kuki, and Mizo, who speak different languages of branches of the Tibeto-Burman family

2)The Meetei who live primarily in the state's valley region, form the primary ethnic group (60% of the total population)and occupy about 10% of the total land area.

3)The Kuki,Naga and other smaller tribal peoples make up about 40% of the population but occupy the remaining 90% of the total land area of Manipur.

4)Manipur has a population of 2,388,634. Of this total, 58.9% live in the valley and the remaining 41.1% in the hilly regions. The hills are inhabited mainly by the Naga, Kuki, and smaller tribal communities and the valley mainly by the Meitei,Pangal and "Bhamons" (who are literally non-Meiteis)

5)Kuki State Demand Committee (KSDC) was formed on Nov 02, 2010 .

6)Preceding the formation of KSDC was a landmark meeting held on 2 September 2010 in New Delhi under the aegis of Kuki Inpi and Kuki Nampi Palai: each and every Kuki revolutionary organisation was invited to discuss and deliberate the future of the Kuki people. The resolution passed at the meeting - following the assent of all the revolutionary groups - was to seek statehood for the Kukis comprising their ancestral land

7)KSDC’s demand for Kuki state is also prompted by the following issues -

• Denial of Sadar Hills District
• Denial of Tribal Protection Under the Sixth Schedule
• The Eight Schedule
• Disparity in Development: Neglect of Tribal/Kuki Areas
• Rendering Hill Areas Committee Non-functional
• Denial of Proportionate Representation
• Land Alienation and Annexation of Tribal Land through state administrative mechanism (overlapping in the 2011 census), which is taken up by COPTAM (Committee on Protection of Tribal Areas, Manipur)
• State Government meddles with chieftains rights to deprive them of their land