The Tahamzam Youth Forum (TYF) has thrown its weight behind the Naga People’s Organisation (NPO), Senapati, rejecting the rejoinder issued by UKYC and subsequent clarification by KRA over the September 26 Kailenjang killings.
In a statement, TYF challenged the KRA to produce evidence if it denies involvement in the killings instead of accusing the Liangmai Naga community without proof. It said denial alone could neither establish innocence nor shift responsibility to another community and urged the KRA to submit any evidence to investigating authorities.
The forum also questioned UKYC’s demand for an apology over the NPO’s use of the term “blood-thirsty”, asking it to first address the killing of six Naga civilians whose bodies were recovered after they were abducted. The Kuki-Zo Council had subsequently described the killings as a “grave mistake” and called for an impartial investigation.
TYF contrasted the incident with the release of 14 Kuki detainees by the Naga side on humanitarian grounds, arguing that those rejecting collective blame should instead help identify and isolate the perpetrators.
On Kailenjang, TYF said three Naga civilians had been killed and another injured, asserting that “denials cannot erase dead bodies”. It urged an impartial probe if KRA denied involvement and questioned UKYC’s reference to the former village chief of Kailenjang.
The forum further rejected attempts to bring the Zomi community into the dispute and said historical references to 1917–1919 could not, by themselves, settle contemporary questions of citizenship, domicile, indigenous status or land ownership.
TYF said the time for press statements and condemnations had passed, warning that continued intimidation of Nagas would be met with “firm and collective action”.