Tension over land disputes amid ethnic feud
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: April 09, 2025 -

Property damage to Liangmai community in Konsakhul, near Leimakhong Army Cantonment, on April 5, 2025 :: Pix - Newmai News Network

THE recent violent incidents involving Kuki and Liangmai villagers in the border areas of Senapati and Kangpokpi districts make it crystal clear that government authorities must tackle the law breakers with an iron hand and punish the culprits involved stringently to ensure that the semblance of normalcy in the state after months of violence between the Kuki and Meetei communities is maintained to the optimum so as to facilitate amicable solution to the crisis.

As the latest bouts of violence are centred on land dispute, it is equally important that authorities concerned prevail upon the parties in dispute to settle their differences through legal means rather than taking the law into their own hands.

Accepted that issues related to land ownership in the hill districts is a complex matter due to lack of precision on demarcation of village boundaries and village chiefs generally having the final say whenever land controversies crop up.

However, in case of land disputes involving neighbouring villages settled by different communities or tribes then intervention by village authorities is likely to only aggravate the situation as it is obvious that the other party interpret the decision taken as partial as is evident from Kuki and Naga civil organisations levelling charges and counter-charges against one another in the wake of the incidents in Kazanga and Konsakhul villages on April 3 and 5 respectively.

Though there is no further act of violence and counter-vandalism in the said villages, tension has been simmering days after the unwanted incidents with influential civil societies of Kuki and Naga communities starting to swear and curse against one another.

Contrary to Kuki organisations holding the Liangmai villagers accountable for the violence, Naga civil bodies such as the United Naga Council and other Naga women and student organisations are accusing the Kuki villagers of resorting to violence with the ulterior motive to grab the land of Liangmai Naga villages.

Taking into account the tension gripping the neighbouring Kuki and Naga villages it is imperative that the government authorities either summon the parties in dispute to resolve the land row through a mutual agreement or launch crackdown on perpetrators of violence rather than live under the impression that the unrest situation would subside with the passage of time as had happened when similar incidents cropped up in the past.

Moreover, some Naga organisations asking the government to take punitive action against the guilty party testify restlessness among the Naga people.

In view of solution continuing to elude the Kuki-Meetei conflict, the government authorities need no reminding that in case of outbreak of violence between the Kuki and Naga tribes then the entire state would plunge into chaos and cause serious headache to those helming the state's affairs.

The need of the hour is for unbiased law enforcement to restore public confidence and ensure lasting peace in the state. Along with encouraging reconciliation among the parties in dispute, emphasis should be on impartial action by security forces so as to rebuild trust among the people, understand factors that force the citizens to take law into their hands, create conditions for the highly charged village authorities to hold dialogues and most importantly demonstrate the government's commitment to justice.