Kuki-Zo organisations on Wednesday stepped up their movement for a separate administration for the communities in strife-hit Manipur by organising massive rallies in and outside the state.

They also submitted a memorandum to the Centre detailing their reasons for seeking the separate administrative set-up.

Spearheaded by Zo United, a coordinating body of all Kuki-Zo organisations in Manipur, rallies were taken out in several towns, cities and villages across the country with many participants carrying placards and national flags.

The placards said: “Separate administration is the only solution”, “Metei government, down, down”, “Tribal area, tribal government” and “No solution, no rest”.

Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) spokesperson Ginza Vualzong said the rallies were held in Guwahati, Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Tripura and in Kuki-Zo majority districts of Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Pherzawl in Manipur.

The Kuki-Zo organisations are seeking the separate administration covering the districts of Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, Pherzawl and Tengnoupal.

The Churachandpur-based Zo United, whose motto is “We Are One”, issued a statement that said: “We have been butchered and chased out of the capital and the valley areas. Radical Meiteis are publicly saying they will not stop until they chase us all out of Manipur. There is no longer any hope for Kuki-Zo kindred tribes to live a dignified life in a state controlled by the Meitei community. A separate administration is the only option for us.”

The Zo United claimed they had “endured seven months of ethnic cleansing by the majority Meiteis, who control the government, and the Kuki-Zo kindred family borne the brunt of the violence” that led to “203 villages"being totally burnt down.