The United Naga Council (UNC) and other Naga groups of Manipur on Thursday (January 30, 2025) asserted their opposition to the creation of seven districts by the erstwhile Congress government in 2016.
They underlined their opposition to these districts at a tripartite meeting with the representatives of the Union Home Ministry and the Manipur government at Senapati, a Naga-dominated town about 60 km north of the State’s capital Imphal.
Leaders of the UNC led the 12-member delegation also comprising the Naga Women’s Union and the All Naga Students’ Association Manipur. A.K. Mishra, Adviser (northeast) in the Ministry, led the central team.
“The discussions/deliberations focused on the creation of seven new districts by the government of Manipur on December 8, 2016, and the UNC’s demand for rollback of the creation of these districts,” a joint statement issued after the meeting said.
“After threadbare discussions, it was mutually agreed that a proposal will be presented by the representatives of the State government in the next tripartite meeting, which will be held in April,” the statement added.
The seven districts the Naga groups are opposed to are Jiribam, Kamjong, Kakching, Tengnoupal, Noney, Pherzawl, and Kangpokpi. These were carved out of the Imphal East, Thoubal, Ukhrul, Senapati, Tamenglong, Churachandpur, and Chandel districts respectively.
The districts were created by the Okram Ibobi Singh-led Congress government a few months before losing the 2017 Assembly polls to the National Democratic Alliance headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
While Jiribam and Kakching are valley districts the rest are in the hills divided unequally between the Kuki-Zo and Naga tribal groups.
The Nagas rejected the creation of these districts by holding demonstrations at the headquarters of the Naga-majority districts and enforcing a 139-day economic blockade on two arterial national highways connecting Imphal to the rest of the country.
According to the UNC, the apex Naga organisation in Manipur, the Congress government bifurcated the parent districts without the informed consent and knowledge of the stakeholders apart from dishonouring four memoranda between the State government and the Naga people and an assurance from the Centre in 2011 to maintain the status quo.
