UPF, KNO seek PM's intervention
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, October 15 2019:
The UPF and the KNO have written to the Prime Minister to intervene and ask the State Government to immediately withdraw the order it issued to remove memorial stones erected in Kuki villages in connection with the centenary celebration of the Anglo-Kuki War so that tensions may subside between the two neighbouring communities, Nagas and Kukis.
A representation signed by UPF spokesperson Aaron Kipgen and KNO spokesperson Dr Seilen Haokip said the Anglo-Kuki War Centenary Commemoration Committee, under the aegis of Kuki Inpi Manipur, asked every Kuki village in Manipur to erect a memorial stone with the inscription 'In Defence of Our Ancestral Land and Freedom'.
Unfortunately, the Tangkhul Naga Long and the Autonomous District Council of Ukhrul raised objection to the Chief Minister, and an order was issued stating the said inscription is objectionable and the memorial stones should be removed immediately.
The Naga tribes again stated that the Anglo-Kuki War (1917-1919) never happened in the history of Manipur or anywhere and that the kukis are landless people in Manipur, quoted the representation.
JC Higgins, the Political Agent responsible for brutally suppressing the Kuki uprising, 1917-1919 also reported to the Chief Commissioner of Assam that the Kukis fought to defend their ancestral land.
Commemorative stones have been erected only in Kuki villages, and not one in any Naga village.
Therefore, the State Government's objection is peculiar, specially as none was raised when Nagas of Manipur celebrated the declaration of Naga Independence on August 14, and erected a gate on NH 39 with the slogan 'Welcome to Southern Nagalim', it decried.
Inevitably, Kukis feel discriminated, and under no circumstance will attempts to erase their history be tolerated, it said.
"The Kukis are not secessionist unlike the Nagas.
However, as enshrined in the Constitution of India for all the citizens, we shall continue to safeguard our history, culture and tradition", the UPF and the KNO declared.
They also urged the Prime Minister for immediate intervention.