The Naga Students’ Union Delhi (NSUD) on Saturday extended its deepest condolences to the bereaved families of the Thadou pastors and church workers, who were brutally killed on the fateful day of 13 May, 2026.
In a statement issued by the union, NSUD also said it prays for the speedy and full recovery of all injured civilians.
Proposed United Baptist Convention
The statement recalled that the slain pastors and church workers, led by Rev. Dr. Vumthang Sitlhou, had met in Churachandpur to discuss forming a United Baptist Convention (UBC) intended to unite the Thadou Baptist Association and several other Baptist bodies.
According to NSUD, while “the attending parties agreed in principle to the proposed convention, the Kuki Churches insisted, unilaterally and arrogantly, that the term ‘Kuki’ be incorporated into the nomenclature of the UBC.” When that demand was declined by other Baptist bodies representing diverse tribal communities, NSUD said, “the Kuki Churches withdrew their support from the proposed convention.”
NSUD described the attack as having occurred as the meeting concluded: the pastors and other civilians were returning from Churachandpur to Kangpokpi when they “came under indiscriminate and merciless firing, resulting in the loss of innocent lives.” The union added, “Woe to those perpetrators. May divine judgment rest upon them.”
Appeal for release of abducted Naga men
In the same release, NSUD strongly condemned the abduction of six Naga men, saying the men “remain unreleased to this moment” and appealing “to the conscience-keepers within the Kuki community to intervene with the concerned armed group(s) and facilitate the safe release of these Naga civilians.”
Inflammatory rhetoric and KSO conduct
Addressing the wider communal fallout, NSUD acknowledged that “in times of communal conflict, rationality is often eclipsed, and the exchange of inflammatory rhetoric on social media has regrettably become normalized.”
The union expressed particular dismay at the conduct of the Kuki Student Organisation, Delhi‑NCR (KSO, Delhi‑NCR), stating it is “astonished that the Kuki Student Organisation, Delhi-NCR (KSO, Delhi-NCR), as a student body, has descended into a complete loss of civility, engaging in the demeaning act of vilifying the Nagas without any proof or credible evidence.”
Critique of planned KSO protest
NSUD also criticised a planned KSO protest on 16 May 2026, calling it “a desperate attempt to mask the blood-stained hands of those Kukis implicated in the killing of Thadou church leaders, by cynically shifting blame onto the Nagas.” The union charged that the protest appeared aimed not only “to channel public anger but also to serve as a performative spectacle to politicize death, commandeer the grief of innocent people, and advance the sinister political agenda of the Kuki community.”
Warning against targeted vilification
The student body further took aim at what it described as a divisive approach by the Kuki community and its student wing, saying it found “both revealing and almost humorous that the Kuki community as a whole, and the KSO Delhi-NCR as its student wing, would single out a particular Naga community from among all Naga tribes in their divisive political calculations, which in fact is an exposure of their juvenile and fragmented strategy.”
While affirming that it “fully respects the democratic right to peacefully protest,” NSUD urged the KSO, Delhi‑NCR, to “immediately remove any references to individual Naga tribes or organizations from their proposed rally posters, pamphlets, and slogan cards.”
The statement warned that “targeted vilification of any community under the guise of protest is unacceptable and will not go unchallenged,” and added that any attempt “to incite hatred, spread misinformation, or target any community or organization under the guise of protest will be firmly condemned and appropriately addressed.”