On Monday, the Kuki State Demand Committee (KSDC), a conglomerate of several Kuki organizations and village chiefs in Manipur, announced to launch its next phase of agitation. KSDC said its stir programme would be announced either on Tuesday or Wednesday.
KSDC spokesman K Khongsai said, "Since the Centre has been ignoring our demand, our agitation will be much harsher than what we did before." Kukis had earlier launched a highway blockade in pursuit of their demand, choking supply to the Imphal valley.
This comes amid rising tension and violence in Assam where Bodos, Koch-Rajbongshis, Karbis and Dimasas re-launched their agitations immediately after the Congress's Central Working Committee accepted the Telangana demand. On Sunday, the Garos in Meghalaya, too, renewed their stir for a separate Garoland.
In Tripura, the tribal-based Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) has renewed the demand for a separate state by recognizing Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council as a separate state. IPFT has called for a march to Raj Bhavan on August 23.
Assam is already burning with the Bodos stepping up their agitation by calling a 48-hour bandh from Monday, completely paralyzing the movement of trains and trucks. If the agitation continues, supply of essentials to the entire northeast would be badly hit.
The All Bodo Students' Union's (Absu) 48-hour strike on Monday crippled life in Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang, Udalguri and Sonitpur districts. The 36-hour stir called by Hitesh Barman faction of All Koch Rajbongshi Students Union for Kamatapur state paralyzed movement of traffic in western Assam areas, including Dhubri district.
A 100-hour strike began in Dima Hasao district on Monday, while Karbi People's Liberation Tigers (KPLT), a militant outfit, called a 12-day strike. Movement of petroleum products from oil-rich Upper Assam was severely affected due to the bandh in Karbi Anglong. Supply of essentials to Nagaland and Manipur was also hit hard. The Karbi and Dimasa tribals are demanding a separate state by carving the twin hill districts of Dima Hasao and Karbi Anglong in Assam.
Chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who has returned from Delhi, called a meeting on Monday evening to discuss the ongoing violence in the Karbi Hills and Bodo heartland.
KSDC vice-chairman T S Kuki justified their demand saying that the Kukis are demanding a separate state since 1960 and the first memorandum was submitted to the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.