NSCN IM has on Saturday cautioned the Kuki-Zo to mind its “warmongering” after the Kuki National Army -B (KNA-B) allegedly killed one Honpam Chithung from the Tangkhul community on 10th February 2024 in a Myanmar village called Phaikoh. It also alleged that the Assam Rifles might also had been involved in the killing.

In a press release, the group reminded that the Nagas have been neutral on the “state sponsored ethnic conflict” between the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zo in Manipur and have even extended help to the displaced Kuki-Zo people from Myanmar and from Imphal valley who are taking shelter in their lands. However, the killing of its member “has been recorded as an affront to the dignity and manhood of the Nagas”, NSCN IM implied.

It also regretted that when the Tangkhul civil society organisations went to Phaikoh to retrieve the remains of Chithung, the headman and the villagers were not cooperative. “GPRN as people’s government have taken strong exception against the KNA(B) and the Kuki villages in the border like Mawailuk, Aishi, Phaikoh etc.” it added, while warning the Kuki-Zo people not take its repeated messages “in casual manner”.

Nagas wish to coexist peacefully with the Kuki-Zo but without compromising the Naga’s geopolitical right, NSCN IM asserted.