Unmasking COCOMI and IPFM: Coordinated Propaganda and Targeted Destabilisation in Ukhrul–Kamjong

The Kuki CSO Working Committee, Ukhrul strongly condemns the recent activities of COCOMI and IPFM in the Namlee, Wanglee, and Choro areas under the guise of peace and indigenous solidarity while in reality attempting to deepen ethnic divisions and provoke hostility against the Kuki community in Ukhrul and Kamjong districts.

Organisations with a consistent record of anti-Kuki rhetoric cannot claim the mantle of peace. These orchestrated visits are intended to intimidate vulnerable Kuki villages and legitimise narratives aimed at erasing the historical and rightful presence of Kukis in these ancestral lands.

The Committee cautions the wider Naga public and civil society organisations against attempts by certain Tangkhul groups to project a localised Tangkhul–Kuki issue as a broader pan-Naga conflict. This deliberate communalisation will destabilise inter-community relations and endanger peace among tribal communities.

The areas of Namlee, Wanglee, and Choro have long been known as sensitive corridors associated with illegal timber smuggling, cross-border drug trafficking, militant movement routes, and the activities of Meitei terrorist elements and other armed groups exploiting the porous international border. Instead of addressing these grave concerns, organisations like COCOMI and IPFM continue selectively targeting innocent Kuki civilians while communalising every issue for political mileage. We therefore strongly urge the Government of India to expedite comprehensive border fencing and strengthen surveillance mechanisms to curb illegal infiltration, narco-terrorism, arms movement, and cross-border militancy.

COCOMI and allied organisations persistently target Kukis while remaining silent on illegal cross-border movement involving Tangkhul elements from Myanmar and illegal Meitei settlers from Bangladesh and elsewhere. This selective posture exposes a coordinated propaganda campaign directed at one community.

At the same time, we question why serious combing operations continue to remain absent in Tangkhul-dominated areas despite repeated reports of militant movement, insurgent shelter networks, arms transit routes, and illegal activities. The selective focus on Kuki areas while ignoring other sensitive corridors weakens public confidence in the neutrality of law enforcement and counter-insurgency operations.

We also question why the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has failed to initiate action against hate-driven organisations such as COCOMI, which has consistently functioned as an overground propaganda platform amplifying narratives associated with CorCom-linked Meitei secessionist conglomerates. Their repeated inflammatory statements, misinformation campaigns, and open incitement against Kukis have significantly worsened ethnic tensions in Manipur.

Further, the role of IPFM has exposed the organisation as nothing more than a bogus platform being misused by certain individuals such as Ashang Kasar to carry out anti-Kuki propaganda and divisive activities. It may be recalled that Ashang Kasar was accused of forging the signature of Rohan Philem, an act later openly called out by Rohan Philem himself. Such incidents clearly expose the unethical and malicious functioning of these organisations which thrive on misinformation and communal hatred.

The historical reality of Ukhrul and Kamjong also cannot be erased through propaganda. The percentage of Kukis in Ukhrul stood at approximately 49.7% in 1947, yet by 2011 it had drastically reduced to around 5%, raising serious questions about decades of intimidation, displacement, marginalisation, and systematic exclusion faced by the Kuki people in these regions.

Every time extremist Meitei organisations and their affiliates label Kukis as “foreigners,” they further destroy the very foundation of coexistence and peace in Manipur. A state cannot claim unity while systematically targeting and demonising one of its own recognised communities through hate campaigns, selective propaganda, and ethnic cleansing narratives.

We further note that even the Hon’ble Home Minister of Manipur recently clarified that the incidents in Namlee, Wanglee, and Choro were not acts of external aggression. However, organisations like COCOMI and IPFM continue spreading fabricated narratives that directly contradict the findings and statements of the government itself, thereby inflaming tensions further.

The Ukhrul Kukis CSO Working Committee therefore urges the Government of India, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), and the Government of Manipur to immediately initiate legal action against organisations and individuals spreading hatred, provoking ethnic unrest, amplifying extremist propaganda, and threatening communal harmony. It is high time that divisive and hate-driven organisations functioning under the guise of civil society are thoroughly investigated and, where necessary, banned in the interest of peace, justice, and public order.

The Kuki people desire peace, coexistence, and justice. However, peace cannot prevail so long as targeted hate campaigns, intimidation, and communal propaganda against minority communities continue to be normalised and protected.

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