The Thadou Inpi-General Headquarters said that the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) has no moral or legal authority for and on behalf of Thadous, citing the statement of the latter on the March 10 protest rally against government eviction orders.
A statement issued by the Thadou Inpi (apex body of the Thadou tribe) stated that it has never asked or authorised KIM to make such a statement on behalf of Thadous.
As per “Thadou Conclave Declaration 2015” Thadou Inpi and Thadou tribe is not part of the Kuki Inpi. This had been published on several occasions, it said.
Further referring to the said rally, Thadou Inpi clarified that it was not consulted and had no knowledge or anything to do with it.
“Whether some Thadou individuals took part in the said rally is an individual matter and it was not representative of the Thadou Inpi or Thadou tribal community. Kuki Inpi should know its limits and stop interfering in the affairs of the Thadou community,” it said.
KIM must not make any statement on behalf of Thadous but exercise due diligence and mutual respect, it further said, adding that “Thadou Inpi believes in and calls for communal harmony, dialogue and peaceful resolution to any issues within the ambit of the constitution and laws of the land”.
It reminded KIM to be mindful that just as “it is the apex body of the 'Any Kuki tribe' that was falsely created and added into the list of scheduled tribes of Manipur only in 2002 without due process, Thadou Inpi is the apex body of Thadou tribe, which had been duly recognized by Government of India as a scheduled tribe of Manipur since 1956, the year when the process of recognition of all the indigenous tribes of Manipur was completed”.
