Manipur: In Churachandpur/Lamka Tribals Stand United

Manipur’s political bodies, women’s and students’ organisations and NGOs are mobilised to defend the land and tens of thousands of people internally displaced. The district, with neighbouring Bishnupur as the border, is cut off from the capital Imphal. Towards the end of our stay in the district, we sat down with Ginza Vualzong, head of the media cell of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF). The ITLF, at least, for the outside world is the spearhead of the Kuki-Zou movement. In this interview, Vualzong spoke to NewsClick’s Siddhanth Aney about the political objectives of the Kuki-Zou, how tribal interests came to be aligned and why the Centre is either ignorant or just plain unwilling to help.