Tensions have risen in Manipur over the issue of pilgrimage by the Meitei community towards hill ramges. The flashpoint emerged as several Meitei youths sought blessings at the Ibudhou Thangjing temple (Laisang) before embarking on their pilgrimage scheduled for April 14 towards the hill ranges in Manipur.
Meanwhile, thousands of women from hill communities in Manipur staged widespread sit-in protests on Saturday across key buffer zones—including New Zalenphai, Gothol, Khousabung, Kangvai, and Torbung—effectively blocking Meitei pilgrims from accessing the sacred Thangjing hill range ahead of an annual religious pilgrimage.
Manipur has seen violence ever since the clashes broke out on May 3, 2023 with a buffer zone separating both the Meitei (currently dominated in valley) and the Kuki community (currently dominated in the hills). The face-off comes amid a time when Meiteis have called for a visit to Thangjing for their annual pilgrimage.
As per the Meities, “Koubru Kashi”, meaning “Let us ascend Mount Koubru”, is an assertion of the Meitei community’s cultural and religious legacy. It is seen as a demand to reclaim their right to access the sacred sites that define our identity, spirituality, and survival.
They claim that Mount Koubru is where the indigenous Yelhoumee people first settled thousands of years ago before moving to the Central Valley of Manipur.
Since time immemorial, Meeteis have undertaken annual pilgrimages to pray to Lainingthou Salailen Sidaba, the Creator, and Leimaren Sidabi, the Supreme Goddess. Along with Thangjing, Wangpurel, and Marjing, these deities form the spiritual bedrock of the Sanamahi religion, as Meiteis claim.
Speaking on the matter, a spokesperson of Meitei Heritage Society told NewsX, “The Indian State must decide if the rule of law should prevail and whether the constitutional rights of its citizens should be safeguarded. Or whether the Chin Kuki Militants and their frontal groups will have their way. Threatening Meiteis to skip the pilgrimage to Thangjing hills is unconstitutional and is a blatant violation of freedom of free movement and right to religious practices.”
On the other hand, Kuki-Zo community from New Zalenphai, the epicenter of the demonstration, showed roads flanked by protesting women holding placards and shouting slogans. The protesters demanded that no “unauthorized entry” be allowed into what they claim are buffer zones and ancestral territories of the hill tribes. Similar protests erupted in Gothol and Khousabung, with women sitting in peaceful defiance and calling for the state to respect their political rights and territorial concerns.
Earlier, speaking on the matter of the overall issue of the pilgrimage to the hills, a senior member of the KSO stated that without proper negotiation of the ongoing situation