The Myth of Ethnic Conflict in Manipur :: Part 3

Sanatomba Kangujam *

Locating the Sadar Hills Issue

The Kuki political movement is a direct fallout of the movement for independent Greater Mizoram spearheaded by Laldenga. Based in the Lushai Hills, Laldenga had gradually extended his political mobilisation to the Chin-Kuki areas of Manipur with a view to expand his operational base for launching guerrilla movement against the Indian State.

But when the Government of India and the Mizo National Front (MNF) finally worked out the political arrangement to resolve the conflict in Lushai Hills, Laldenga did nothing to safeguard the interest of the Kukis of Manipur. In spite of the support which the Kukis of Manipur had wholeheartedly extended to the cause of independent Greater Mizoram, they were left out from the purview of the Mizo Accord.

The exclusive political space imagined by the Lushai elites was secured with the formation of Mizoram as a full-fledged State within the Indian Union in 1986. However, the Kukis of Manipur felt betrayed. Confronted with such dilemma, the Kuki elites from Manipur and Burma started imagining an alternative political space to secure their interests as well as the larger interests of the Kuki people.

The imagined political space of the Kuki elites is articulated in the concept of Zalengam which comprises all the Kuki inhabited areas of India, Burma and Bangladesh. The concept of Zalengam signifies the sovereign existence of the Kuki nation in an independent Kuki homeland. Here, the term Kuki embraces all the tribes who belong to the Chin-Kuki-Zomi family.

Although the Kuki elites imagine a unified and independent Kuki homeland, they have realised the impracticability of accomplishing such a grand political project in the present circumstances. Therefore, the Kuki elites have scaled down their political demand to Statehood or Union Territory. But even the granting of Autonomous Statehood or Union Territory to the Kukis within the territorial space of Manipur is something which is not feasible from any point of view.

Realising the stark political realities confronting them, the Kuki elites have effected a strategic shift in their priority from Statehood to autonomy. It is the strategy of the Kuki elites to secure maximum political autonomy wherever they are; be it in India, Burma or Bangladesh pending final unification of their nation/homeland.

With this point in view, the Kuki-Zomi militant groups have entered into Suspension of Operation (SoO) with the Indian Security Forces and have started to engage in political dialogue with the Government to negotiate the best possible political arrangement for them within Manipur. Another factor that induced the Kuki militant groups to enter into SoO with the Government is their relatively weak fire power and weak organisational strength in comparison with the Naga and the Meitei insurgent groups. Political expediency demands that they should align with the Government in order to resist the onslaught of the stronger powers.

But the maximum political concession which the Kuki elites can extract from the Government in any conceivable situation is the granting of full-fledged districthood to Sadar Hills and Tengnoupal Sub-division. Churachandpur District has already remained as an exclusive domain of the Kuki-Zomi group. But it still may also need further bifurcation in order to form a separate district for the Hmars in the Tipaimuk Sub-division. Therefore, the renewed demand for Sadar Hills districthood is a logical outcome of the ongoing political dialogue between the Government and the SoO groups.

Now, on the basis of this understanding, it can safely be concluded that the Sadar Hills issue is purely an ethnic demand.

First, the demand for granting full-fledged districthood to Sadar Hills is made exclusively by the Thadou Kukis. The Kuki elites of Sadar Hills simply desire to carve out an exclusive political domain for themselves. Second, the map of the proposed Sadar Hills District is drawn up in such a manner as to include all the Kuki villages lying in the foothill areas. In the process, many Naga villages have been arbitrarily placed within the proposed Sadar Hills district much against their wishes.

Third, the objection to the creation of the Sadar Hills district is raised solely by the Nagas by claiming that the geographical areas of the proposed district constitute part of their ancestral land. The veracity of the claim made by the Nagas is not a matter of concern here. What is more important is the fact about how deeply entrenched is the issue of Sadar Hills with the identity politics.

Justifications are galore regarding the demand for granting of full-fledged districthood to Sadar Hills, but that does not absolve the issue from being entangled to ethnic politics. The slogan of administrative convenience is just an ideological tool to justify a purely ethnic demand. The demand and objection centering on the issue of Sadar Hills districthood is only a manifestation of the deeper conflict between the Kuki elites and the Naga elites.

The Sadar Hills issue simply happens to be one of the major areas where the exclusive political space imagined by the Kuki elites and the Naga elites overlap or intersect. Therefore, the issue ought to be located in the larger context of the relation between the Kuki elites and the Naga elites.

Notwithstanding the arguments for and against the demand for a full-fledged districthood, Sadar Hills has always remained the de facto homeland of the Kukis and will always remain as such. The Nagas or their armed groups will never be able to force the Kukis out of the Sadar Hills. This is the reality regardless of whether the Nagas recognize it or not and whether the Kukis admit it or not. The Sadar Hills will one day attain full-fledged districthood. It is simply a matter of time.

In this regard, it needs to be understood that the opposition of the Nagas to the creation of Sadar Hills district is not absolute but conditional. The political stand of the Nagas on the issue of Sadar Hills is that they will not allow the formation of Sadar Hills district "without their wishes and consent". They are not totally against it. But the Nagas will never concede to it under the present circumstances until and unless their political aspirations too are satisfactorily addressed.

Besides, the proposed map of the Sadar Hills district may not be acceptable to the Nagas. Many Naga villages have already raised their dissent against their inclusion in the proposed Sadar Hills district. Obviously, boundary re-adjustment will become imperative even in the event of granting districthood to the Sadar Hills. A time will certainly come when the Nagas will be in a position to agree to the demand for the creation of Sadar Hills District. As of now, they are not yet prepared to part with it. By saying this, I am not upholding the claim of the Nagas over the Sadar Hills, but simply stating the ground realities.

The best available option, therefore, is to initiate political dialogue between the Nagas and the Kukis. Here, the Meiteis can play a neutral facilitatory role by convincing the Nagas and the Kukis to come to the negotiating table. The Meiteis cannot afford to betray the trust either of the Kukis or the Nagas as the imagined Manipuri nation is not complete without both of them. This does not mean that the Meiteis should remain mute spectators to the unfolding development. What I am trying to suggest is that the Kuki appeasement policy adopted by the Meiteis should not prepare the way for final parting between the Nagas and the Meiteis.

Concluding Remarks

The conflict among the struggling communities in Manipur is deeply embedded in the act of imagining exclusive political space by the contesting elites. The horizontal conflict which has assumed an ethnic dimension is basically an elite phenomenon. The so called ethnic conflict is the sole creation and projection of the opportunist elites. A closer look at the nature of the conflict reveals that there is no conflict at the people to people level. The common people are simply misled to fit into the political game plan of certain vested interests.

The intractability of the conflict among the struggling communities is not due to any primordial factors. As a matter of fact, it is the highly incompatible nature of the act of imagining the political space that has rendered the horizontal conflict seemingly intractable. It is seemingly intractable in that intractability itself is also the construction of the opportunist elites.

The conflict is projected as highly antagonistic in character and that the prospect of its solution is far removed from the people's psyche. But there is no conflict in the world which cannot be resolved or transformed. Besides, conflict between identity groups is not inevitable. The Swiss experience will absolutely falsify any understanding that upholds the inevitability of identity based conflict in a situation characterized by ethnic diversity.

Horizontal conflict, though basically an elite conflict, has come to pervade every aspect of our social existence. The conflict is highly entrenched in our social structure that it has become increasingly difficult to convince the common people of different communities about the non-existence of such conflict in their real worlds. Common people are easily swayed by the elites as they are in control of all the mental means of production (institutions designed to shape the mind of the general masses).

In the meantime, a new elite, which is very powerful and influential has emerged in Manipuri society as a sequel of the armed movement. The nature of this nascent elite is yet to be ascertained. But with the emergence of the neo elite, the inter-group as well as the intra-group conflicts has been intensified and the vertical conflict is slowly being replaced with the horizontal conflict. Or is it simply a case of historical co-incidence?

Notwithstanding the multiplication of the opportunist elements in our society the progressive elements, though very few in number, are present in each and every community. It is the presence of such progressive elements across the divided societies that shall render it possible to transform the conflict. The primary task ahead for any project of conflict transformation, therefore, is the identification and unification of all the progressive elements in our divided societies.

The dominant discourse is not in favour of ethnic based political demands. However, I see no problem in the formation of districts and sub-divisions on the basis of ethnicity so long as it does not affect the integrity of the state. Ethnic federalism is important for small groups to ensure their survival especially in the face of aggressive assimilation process unleashed by bigger groups. We cannot expect small groups to merge their identities with the bigger groups. That would be too hegemonic.

It is pertinent to point out that there are many contradictions in the relationship particularly between the Hills and the Valley. These contradictions have remained unresolved over the decades. That was primarily the reason why it erupted in explosion occasionally. Mao incident of May 6, 2010 was not the first and would not be the last of its kind.

In 1948, Mao-Maram areas had erupted under the leadership of A Daiho. He was arrested and imprisoned and subsequently, his political movement under the Naga National League (NNL) gradually evaporated. But since the contradiction was never resolved, it resurfaced at certain point of time though under different leadership and organization.

Finally, I would like to suggest granting of more political autonomy to the Hills of Manipur as a strategy to resolve the outstanding contradictions embedded in the relationship between the Hills and the Valley. The political aspirations of the Nagas and the Kukis must be fulfilled to the greatest possible extent. But any autonomy package for the Hill areas of Manipur should be earned by the Hill people themselves in due course of time as a price of their contribution towards building a composite Manipur.

No autonomy package is offered on a silver platter. In the context of the Northeast as a whole, it is worthwhile to mention that the political future of all the struggling communities in the region is bound together by destiny. There can never be an isolated solution to the problem being faced by any specific community.

Since the character of the problem confronting the region is common to all the ethnic groups, there ought to be an integrated framework for solution. It is high time to search for a common ground to settle our differences and build a shared future. We swim together or sink together. The choice is ours.

Concluded .....