Manipur CM assures Kuki-Zo people safe travel to Imphal

GUWAHATI

Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh on Monday (February 9, 2026) said that the State government would ensure the safety of Kuki-Zo people visiting Imphal.

He said this while flagging off the work to strengthen a major stretch of National Highway 137A, which connects the State capital with Kakching.

“Adequate security will be provided to members of the Kuki-Zo community who wish to visit Imphal for various purposes, including medical treatment,” Mr. Singh said.

The assurance is seen as an effort to rebuild confidence between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities after almost three years of the ethnic conflict that broke out on May 3, 2023. Members of the two communities have avoided travelling to each other’s territories since.

While the non-tribal Meitei people dominate the Imphal Valley, the tribal Kuki-Zo largely inhabit the hills around.

Among the first Kuki-Zo people to visit Imphal since May 2023 were two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators— L.M. Khaute and Ngursanglur Sanate, who flew from New Delhi on February 4, the day Mr. Singh was sworn in as the Chief Minister.

Another BJP legislator, Vungzagin Valte, was on Sunday (February 8, 2026) brought from Churachandpur to Imphal, from where he was airlifted to New Delhi for advanced medical treatment. He has been bedridden since he was assaulted after the ethnic clashes broke out.