Condemn Death Threats By Ceasefire-Linked Kuki Insurgents, Says Thadou Tribe Body

"The declaration of detachment and disowning of the colonial tag Kuki by Thadou is in fact equivalent to Thadou maintaining its distinct tribe status like the status of Tangkhul or any other distinct tribe," the Thadou Community International said in a statement

A global body of the Thadou tribe from Manipur has condemned what it called death threats allegedly made by a Kuki insurgent group that had signed a ceasefire deal with the Centre and the state government. The Kuki National Front's (KNF) threat to kill leaders of the Thadou tribe is a clear violation of the ground rules of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement, the Thadou Community International (TCI) said in a statement.

A "historic" Thadou Convention was held in Assam's Guwahati last week, where leaders and delegates of the Thadou tribe had passed a resolution and a declaration asserting the Thadou tribe's distinct ethnic identity which also has its own language, culture, traditions, and history.

"Thadou is not Kuki, or underneath Kuki, or part of Kuki, but a separate, independent entity from Kuki... Thadou is one of the original 29 native/indigenous tribes of Manipur, India, that were all simultaneously and duly recognised as independent Scheduled Tribes of Manipur under the 1956 Presidential Order, Government of India," the declaration had said.