Ethnic Kuki Nationalism

George T. Haokip *

One of the seven sisters of North East India, Manipur once described as "Switzerland of India" is an isolated hill-girt state. Manipur is an extraordinary place, full of charm, beauty and creativity - A "flower on the Lofty Heights" is her name. It lies in the North-Eastern region of Indian Sub-continent, between 23.5 oN-25.3 oN Latitude and 93.4 oE-95.3 oE Longitudes, bordering Myanmar in the east, Nagaland state in the north, Assam and Mizoram in the west.

Encircled by nine hill ranges, Manipur is marked out by a picturesque valley in the midst. The total area of Manipur is 22,327 sq. km. Out of this only 2,238 sq. Km are valley while the remaining areas are covered with hilly tracts. The hill area is occupied by the tribal communities both Kukis and Nagas. There are five hill districts viz. Churachandpur, Chandel, Ukhrul, Senapati and Tamenglong. Manipur is richly endowed with natural splendor and grandeur.

This beautiful state is also called "Switzerland of the East". The state today has witnessed a complex ethnic crisis. Assertion of group identity, inter group competition for resources, insecurity, underdevelopment and what not have mark the situation. The Kukis , Naga and Meitei are on struggle for their ethnic identity. The crisis is deepening and the tribal groups have demanded their political aspiration which they base on their history.

Identity: The term Kuki originated in Sylhet, in East Bengal. The term first appeared in Bengal Rawlins writing of "Cuci"s, or Mountaineers of Tipra."Elly recorded that the Bengalis called the tribe Kuki, or "hill people."Grierson also describes the term Kuki as an Assamese or Bengali word applied to such hill tribes as Lushais, Rangkhols, Thadous, and so on, who were residing in India. In 1893, Reid also described: "Originally applied to the tribe or tribes occupying the tracks immediately to the south of Cachar. It is now employed in a comprehensive sense, to indicate those living to the west of the Kaladyne River, while to the west they are designated as Shendus would be known as Chiang, synonymous with Kyen, and pronounced as "Chin".

There are three views regarding the origin of the term Kuki:
(i) it is derived from a word applied to a system of cultivation by the Bengalis (Dun, 1981: 32);
(ii) it is derived from the Baluchisthan word "Kuchis" meaning "wandering people" and
(iii) it is derived from the English word "Kooky" meaning "peculiar or unusual people" (Vaiphei, 1995: 126).

Though no definite answer is found as to the origin of the term Kuki, it is widely accepted that it was given by outsiders. Kuki Nationalism Nationalism can be describe as a desire for political independence; the desire to achieve political independence or a separate entity. The Kuki people of Manipur with a separate identity and culture like other have been on the verge to find their solution to safeguard their own identity since pre independence.

The growth of Kuki nationalism also started, like the Nagas, initially through mobilization of the Kukis against the British. The anti-British position of the Kukis in Manipur hills can be traced to at least three reasons. Firstly, the administration of hill areas of Manipur was directly entrusted to the Vice-president of the State Durbar, who was a British subject. He was assisted by Manipuri lambus in the affairs of the administration. These lambus who were mere peons and interpreters assumed much authority during the British rule. This hurt the sentiments of the Kuki chiefs who were individualistic persons and used to consider themselves at par with the Maharaja of Manipur. Such an administrative set up created a gap between the people and the officials.

Secondly, the economic condition of the Kukis were no better off with the imposition of house tax of Rs. 3 per annum and the obligation of free labour under the system of pothang which they disliked. Thirdly, the conditions of the Kukis were further worsened when they were sent to France as Labour Corps during the World War I, much against their will. Then the blow came when the government gave a second calling for such recruitment. This time the Kuki chiefs did not give in easily to the British and they resisted all forms of British action towards recruitment (For more details of the rebellion, Singh, 1992: 43-55). This incident which is popularly known as "Kuki Rebellion" in imperial historiography might be seen as the anti-colonial freedom struggle of the Kukis.

This anti-colonial struggle had cemented the relationship of the Kukis across the villages and brought the Chiefs closer to each other. The Kuki identity was also widened. With the British raj coming to an end, the Kukis formed the Kuki National Assembly (KNA), in October, 1946, to press forward the cause of the Kukis and demand for a homeland for themselves. However, with the merger of Manipur into the Indian Union in 1949, this demand was subsided.

However, with the Nagas and other tribal groups in the region getting their homelands, the young generations of the Kukis became restive. The sense of desperateness has increased manifold with the NSCN gaining ground in the hills of Manipur since 1980 and the Naga demand for unification started becoming louder. With the ascendancy of the NSCN (I-M) at the driver"s seat since 1988, Kukis have realized a serious threat to their livelihood. The realization that without a well-demarcated homeland the future of the Kukis is destined to be doomed has dawned into the Kuki community psyche.

The failure of both KNA to address the livelihood threats faced by the community has led to the birth of a plethora of Kuki underground organization leading to the transformation of the Kuki movement for homeland into a militant movement. The demand for a Kuki homeland called "Zale"n-gam: land of freedom" was spearheaded with the formation of underground government called Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and its armed wing Kuki National Army (KNA*) in 1988 under the leadership of Pu Thangkholun, a Manipuri Kuki. The main objective of KNO is to carve out a homeland for the Kukis, i.e., "Kukiland", one in India and the other in Myanmar (Haokip, 2008: 376-377, 403).

Similarly, Nehlun Kipgen, a Manipuri Kuki, formed the Kuki National Front (KNF) in 1988 with the objective of carving out an autonomous "Kukiland" under the Constitution of India (Kipgen, 2006). However, the territorial claims of the Kukis overlap the territorial claims of the Nagas in Manipur. This overlapping territorial interest has brought the two communities into a conflicting situation. The Nagas see the Kukis as a barrier on the way to their long cherished goal for unification.

The territorial claims of the Kukis include the districts of Churachandpur, Chandel and some portions of Tamenglong, Senapati and Ukhrul, whereas the Nagas claim the districts of Tamenglong, Senapati, Ukhrul and Chandel. Thus, the Kukis and Nagas have overlapping and conflicting territorial interests over all the hill districts of Manipur, except Churachandpur. This conflicting territorial claim has turned into inter-tribal warfare in 1992 while the Nagas at the behest of NSCN (I-M) asserted their supremacy over the Kukis.

One important implication of the conflict is the proliferation Kuki underground organizations. The failure of the state to protect the Kukis from the onslaught of the Nagas, especially NSCN (I-M), during the conflict, gave birth to Kuki Liberation Army (KLA), Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA), Zomi Revolutionary Organization (ZRO) and United Kuki Liberation Front (UKLF). The failure of the KNA* and KNF to stand up to the expectation, to protect the interests of the community and to resist the onslaught of the NSCN (I-M) has sent strong signals to every Kuki sub-tribe to look for a self-defence mechanism.

The multiplicity of Kuki militant organizations may be seen as the resultant reaction of this social insecurity that has arisen out of the Naga-Kuki conflict of 1990s. Another implication is the large scale displacement of the Kukis from conflict-ridden areas and their subsequent settlement in Churachandpur district, the safe homeland of the Kukis, which has destabilized the host society.

The large scale migration of the Thadous had created some unrest among the other sub-tribes of Kukis like Paite, Simte, Zou, Vaiphei, etc. for fear of being outnumbered. Intra-Kuki antagonism arising out of the dominating attitude of the Thadous is believed to be the prime factor behind the onset of Kuki-Paite clash in 1997 and the consequent formation of Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA), the armed wing of ZRO, to protect the other Kuki sub-tribes from the dominance of Thadous.

Kuki National Army (KNA): To achieve this they have chosen revolutionary means. Today ther are series of Kuki revolutionary organisation coming up on the line of ethnic nationalism. Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) Kuki National Organisation (KNO) ,Kuki Independent Army (KIA), Kuki Defence Force (KDF) ,Kuki International Force (KIF), Kuki National Volunteers (KNV), Kuki Liberation Front (KLF) ,Kuki Security Force (KSF), Kuki Liberation Army (KLA) , Kuki Revolutionary Front (KRF) ,United Kuki Liberation Front (UKLF) ,Hmar People"s Convention (HPC) ,Hmar People\'s Convention- Democracy (HPC-D),Hmar Revolutionary Front (HRF) ,Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) , Zomi Revolutionary Volunteers (ZRV) ,Indigenous People\'s Revolutionary Alliance (IRPA) ,Kom Rem People\'s Convention (KRPC), Chin Kuki Revolutionary Front (CKRF) fighting for their political aspiration.

Thus, the Kuki identity, developed during the colonial rule in the north eastern hills of British India, was consolidated through anti-British rebellion during 1917-19. However, the Naga-Kuki conflict has led to the further consolidation of the Kuki identity. The political mobilization of the members of the Kuki community in support of a "Kuki homeland" has transformed itself into a nationality.

The Kuki nationalism is, thus, an outcome of the search of the Kukis for a homeland of their own. In fact, the demands for "Kuki homeland" and "unification of Nagas" are mutually exclusive. This has given rise to a serious inter-tribal animosity between Nagas and Kukis. The national sentiments of the Kukis were also severely hurt as the state of Manipur utterly failed to protect the lives of the innocent Kukis on the wake of the Naga-Kuki conflict.

The Kuki nationalism, thus, stands aloof in an amazingly complex ethno-political matrix in Manipur and wanders into the blind lanes of militancy in search of a homeland of their own. The accounts of growth of nationalism among Kukis presented above indicate that the national goals of this group do not converge. Kukis are the third largest group in Manipur. politicization of the Kuki community and the emergence of Kuki nationalism. The growth of Kuki nationalism will be taken up next.

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