Thousands of people belonging to different indigenous communities, including Meiteis, Nagas and Meitei Pangals, took to the streets across Manipur on Saturday in one of the largest joint mobilisations the state has seen, demanding the immediate abrogation of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with Kuki militant groups, IANS reported.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

The main march in the capital, organised by the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) in collaboration with several Naga civil society organisations, assembled at Tiddim Ground in Kwakeithel, Imphal West district, and proceeded to THAU Ground in Thangmeiband, where a public meeting was held. Participants carried posters reading “save Manipur”, “we want peace and justice” and “abrogate SoO pact”.

Source: TezzBuzz (Telangana Today report)

The United Naga Council (UNC), the apex Naga body, endorsed the Imphal rally, and Naga organisations held parallel marches and sit-ins in Senapati and Chandel districts and at Naga district headquarters. In Senapati, the rally — organised by the Naga People's Organisation, the Senapati District Students' Association and the Senapati District Women's Association — demanded the immediate abrogation of the SoO agreement and the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen; a similar rally in Chandel made the same demands.

What the rally demanded

Beyond scrapping the SoO pact, the organisations demanded the withdrawal of Assam Rifles from the state, protection of indigenous communities and their property, the early resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) affected by the ethnic violence, and an update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) with 1951 as the base year before the next Census. COCOMI convenor Y.K. Dhiren also demanded the resignation of the present state government — an allegation-based demand by the organisers, who allege the government has failed to protect the lives and properties of indigenous people and restore normalcy; the state government had not responded in the reports.

23Underground outfits under the SoO — 8 under UPF and 15 under KNO (IANS)
2,266Kuki cadres staying in designated SoO camps in Manipur (IANS)
2008Year the SoO agreement was signed with the Centre and the Manipur government
4 September 2026Date the SoO term expired without being renewed, according to the reports

The rallies came days after militants ambushed a group of 14 Meitei men and killed three of them, an attack that triggered widespread protests in the state. Manipur has been gripped by ethnic violence since May 2023, and the SoO arrangement — signed in August 2008 between the Centre, the Manipur government and Kuki-Zomi insurgent groups to suspend armed operations under agreed ground rules — has become increasingly contentious since then.

What happens next is a decision for the Centre: the SoO term expired on September 4 without renewal, so Saturday's joint Meitei-Naga mobilisation is pressure either to formally abrogate the pact or to state publicly what replaces it. No response from the Union Home Ministry or the state government was reported by Saturday evening.