KNO President concerned
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network

Dimapur, June 04 2014: President of Kuki National Organisation (KNO) PS Haokip who was part of the delegation of Zo Re-Unification Organisation (ZoRO) that went to New York, United States of America to participate in the 12-day long United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigeneous Issues (UNPFII) from May 12 to May 23, said the Suspension of Operation (SoO) has been extended several times over, but the Government is yet engage the minority Kukis in a dialogue.

PS Haokip strongly advocated that the tribes under Zo should be re-grouped.

PS Haokip delivered a speech there as a ZoRO delegate and not as a KNO chief.

ZoRO president R Thangmawia and Dr Seilen Haokip were also part of the ZoRO delegation.

The speech of PS Haokip was made available to Newmai News Network by a source said, "In the current political scenario, in 2008, the Government of India, Kuki National Organisation and state Government of Manipur signed a tripartite Suspension of Operations in order that an amicable political solution may be reached through dialogue.

Suspension of Operation (SoO) has been extended several times over, but the Government has not begun to engage minority Kukis in dialogue.

Proportional representation in the Manipur Legislative Assembly does not take into account land ownership.

The Kuki chieftains'lands comprise more than 50% of the total area of the state.

Therefore, in the state Legislative Assembly the Kukis are under represented and their rights and resources are exploited to benefit the community, who are majority in population and on that criteria have more representation, even though they own less than 10% of the total area of the state" .

PS Haokip then stated that the existing anomaly faced by the Zo people is the legacy of British rule.

To address this grave injustice, Zo people need to be re-grouped under a single administrative head so they do not remain a minority in three countries.

According to Mr Haokip's UNPFII speech, Kuki, Lushai (Mizo), Kachin, and Chin collectively comprise the Zo people.

Zoancestral landsin Northeast India include parts of Manipur, Tripura, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram state, parts of Sagaing Division and Arakan state in Myanmar (Burma),Kachin and Chin states in Myanmar (Burma), and parts of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, Mr Haokip added.

"The British recognised the need to bring the Zo ethnic entity under one administrative head asearly as in 1892, when the Chin-Lushai Conference was held at Fort William in Calcutta (now Kolkata): Resolution 1 states,'The majority of the Conference are of opinion that it is very desirable that the whole tract of the country known as the Chin-Lushai Hills should be brought under one Administrative head as soon as this can be done�'" PS Haokip stated.

He then said non-implementation of the Chin-Lushai Conference resolution has caused innumerable hardship to the minority Zo people in their own ancestral lands.

"A stark example is the Kuki genocide that took place during 1992-1997, when the Naga Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak&Muivah) slaughtered over 900 innocent Kuki civilians, uprooted more than 350 villages and displaced nearly 100,000 souls," Mr Haokip added.

The existing anomaly faced by the Zo people is the legacy of British rule.

To address this grave injustice, Zo people need to be re-grouped under a single administrative head so they do not remain a minority in three countries.

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