People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) recently published a report on the ethnic violence in Manipur which has invited severe backlash from the Meitei Community. The PUCL report, titled “Independent People’s Tribunal on the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur, was published earlier this month.
Meitei groups and leaders, cutting across political sides, have slammed the report for its apparent bias. BJP Rajya Sabha MP from the state, Maharaja Sanajaoba Leishemba, and Congress MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam have both criticised the PUCL report.
Maharaja Leishemba had earlier criticised the report calling it “wrong, biased, one-sided, baseless, ungrounded & added fuel to the peace process.” On Tuesday, he expressed his gratitude towards the Rashtra Sarvopari Sangathan (RSS) for its statement on the PUCL report.
Grateful to Rashtrahit Sarvopari Sangthan for your initiative to expose the truth of Manipur Violence & befitting response against this One-sided self styled Human Rights Defenders #PUCL.
— Maharaja Sanajaoba Leishemba. (@MaharajaManipur) August 26, 2025
🙏🙏🙏@rashtrapatibhvn@PMOIndia@Sohangiri pic.twitter.com/O5RM13GTOv
The Sangathan said in its statement, “The report heavily emphasizes alleged atrocities committed by the Meitei community, while downplaying or completely ignoring the violence and provocations by Kuki militant groups. This skewed portrayal contributes to ethnic division and undermines a comprehensive understanding of the conflict.”
The statement also said, “The PUCL’s silence on or subtle endorsement of separatist demands risks being interpreted as tacit support for divisive and unconstitutional objectives, with grave national security implications.”
The Sangathan also demanded a comprehensive legal investigation into PUCL’s activities. In addition to investigation into its FCRA and Income Tax Act compliance, it also wants an investigation into whether resources are being used “to support separatist or anti-national agendas”.
Congress MP calls for withdrawal of PUCL Report
Congress MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam accused PUCL of racism in his statement. He said, “PUCL investigators have deliberately excluded (thankfully though) the pictures of Meitei victims and chosen to reproduce ONLY the images of the “Kuki” victims (17 in total in the report) who were killed during this communal violence.”
Akoijam said further, “It is a well-known fact that Western media show restraint while presenting the dead bodies of American/Europeans/white people in print. At the same time, they would generously display the dead bodies of non-European people, especially from Africa and Asia, including India.”
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He went on to add, “Obviously, the northeast has been the “other” whose dead bodies can be displayed without any compunction, albeit Indian scholars would condemn the Westerners when they do similar things to them!”
The Congress MP said that he will not demand an FIR against the publishers of the report. But he demanded that PUCL render an unconditional apology and withdraw the report.
Naxal Links of PUCL
Binayak Sen is one of the Vice-Presidents of PUCL. He was convicted of sedition and sentenced to life imprisonment by a Chhattisgarh Trial Court for helping Naxals set up a network to fight the state. PUCL condemned the Indian Security Forces operation that eliminated Maoist Terrorist Nambala Keshava Rao (Basavaraju), calling it ‘Extrajudicial Killing’.
PUCL desperately wanted a ceasefire between the Government and Maoists when the Naxalites were cornered by Indian Security Forces. An NIA Special Court in Lucknow had specifically called out PUCL for exerting undue pressure on the Judiciary.
