Kuki-Zo women block Meitei pilgrimage to Thangjing hill

Imphal: Women in thousands belonging to Kuki-Zo community staged coordinated sit-in protests across Churachandpur district on Sunday preventing Meitei community entering the Thangjing hill range for their annual Cheiraoba (New Year) pilgrimage.

The protests, which unfolded at the foothills of Thangjing and key buffer zone areas such as New Zalenphai, Gothol, and Khousabung, were spearheaded by determined women holding placards and chanting slogans. They demanded respect for the buffer zones and called for official recognition of their political rights.

Six Kuki-Zo civil society organizations (CSOs), including the Kuki Students’ Organisation and the Kuki Women’s Union had warned Meitei pilgrims to refrain from climbing the Thangjing hill, located along the contested boundary between the Meitei-dominated valley and the Kuki-Zo-dominated hill district of Churachandpur.

“Meitei Heritage Society” had asked the Centre and state government to take “decisive action” against ‘unconstitutional and provocative’ threats.

The Meitei group argued that the pilgrimage to Thangjing Ching, considered the sacred abode of the deity Ibudhou Thangjing, is a centuries-old tradition. “This is akin to Hindus being stopped from going to Kailash Parbat or Muslims being denied pilgrimage to Mecca.”