Kuki immigration: On a political mission for separate State

Yenning *

Migration broadly refers to change of residence across an administrative boundary, and this change can be inter-continental, inter-national, inter-regional, inter-state, rural to urban et al. Migration can be classified as voluntary movement–when people willingly leave their homes in order to improve their livelihood; and forced or involuntary movement–when people are forced to flee their homes because of war or political persecution or other compelling reasons.

Again, migration can be of two types–permanent movement, when migrants do not intend to return to their places of origin, and temporary movement when migrants return to their places of origin after working or staying for a certain period in a foreign land.

The whole dynamics of migration is often analysed based on the interplay between ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors. The ‘push’ factors may include environmental, demographic, economic and political pressures. Common environmental ‘push’ forces are drought, flood and earthquakes. Poverty, lack of employment, crop failure and famine have been accepted as major economic ‘push’ factors.

Political pressures to leave home may arise from wars, revolutions, coups d’tat, persecution by totalitarian governments, expulsion by the state etc. The ‘pull’ forces which attract migrants to certain destinations are very often the result of forces opposite to the ‘push’ factors.

Some of the common ‘pull’ factors are economic opportunity to improve living conditions, chance of personal safety, liberty and freedom, and social opportunities such as educational or cultural considerations.

Researchers and scholars have generally accepted that migration flows produce multi-dimensional implications on both places of origin as well as destination countries/states. Migration may relieve population pressure in the state of origin, while eviction of certain ethnic groups may either benefit or harm both the emigrant and immigrant states.

Migration demands a serious engagement when migration becomes a continuous process involving multitude of migrants in a uni-directional manner. At this stage, migration transforms itself as influx, when viewed from the perspective of the host. When migration transforms into exodus and influx between the place of origin and the destination, the process breeds an inherent threat perception.

Kuki Immigration

The term ‘Kuki’ broadly refers to a group of tribes and sub-tribes who share similar tradition, customs, culture, mode of living and a common ethnic lineage. According to Irish linguist George Abharaham Grierson,”the words Kuki and Chin are synonymous; Kuki is an Assamese or Bengali term, applied to various hill tribes, such as the Lusheis, Rangkhols, Thados, etc.; Chin is a Burmese word; the name (Chin) is not used by the tribes themselves, who use titles such as Zo or Yo and Sho. Accordingly, the words ‘Chin’, ‘Kuki’, ‘Zo’ are synonymous”.

The first reference to ‘Kuki’ in colonial writings was made in 1777 when people from the tribe attacked British subjects in Chittagong. At that time, Warren Hastings was the Governor General of Bengal. In his book “Manipur and the Naga Hills, Sir James Johnstone, Political Agent of Manipur (1877-1886) writes that ‘Kukis’ were first heard in Manipur, between 1830 and 1840. The term is so fluid or vague that the Government of India recognized them as ‘Any Kuki Tribe’ till 1956.

The first nomadic Chin-Kuki-Zo tribes who had entered and taken settlement in Manipur were Thadou and their co-tribes (called Khongsais in Manipur) after they were driven out from the Chin Hills of Myanmar by the Soktes during the reign of Maharaja Nar Singh in 1844-1850.

The Kukis migrated in significant numbers from the Lushai Hills (now Mizoram) and Chin Hills to Manipur—called the Great Kuki Exodus—in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was particularly because they were displaced by more powerful groups of Myanmar and the Lushai Hills. These immigrant Kukis sought shelter and land from the Manipuri kings.

Notably, a significant number of Kukis immigrated to Manipur after Burmese invasions and the Seven Years of Devastation (1819-1826). After the Seven Years Devastation, following strong pressure from the southern tribes in the Lushai Hills and Chin Hills, a great number of Kukis migrated to Manipur. During the colonial period, the Kukis captured the attention of the British after they carried out repeated attacks on British subjects.

The British made policies to contain the attacks from Kukis by allotting them land at different places. In Manipur, Political Agent McCulloch played a crucial role in facilitating the settlement of the Kukis in appropriate regions, specifically along the vulnerable frontier.

As a result, thousands of Kukis were promptly settled in the kingdom. In the post independence era, following military coups in Myanmar, wave after waves of Chin/Kuki migrants made their journey to Manipur, and these immigrants ultimately formed a major community of Manipur.

Quest for separate state

No doubt, the waves of Kuki/Chin immigration which started in the 18th and 19th centuries and is still continuing have created a profound impact on the demography of Manipur. But the issue is not limited to demographic imbalance. The influx has become a perpetual factor for socio-political unrest in Manipur.

This is largely because the immigrant Kukis are not satisfied with the much better social life and economic opportunities they enjoy here in Manipur. They are insatiable in the sense they are not content with the privileges that come with being a Scheduled Tribe under the constitution of India.

Even before their population was not large enough, the immigrant Kukis had been craving for an exclusive political domain of their own. In fact, this is the root cause of the present violent conflict in Manipur.

Soon after the immigrant Kuki population reached a sizable portion, the Kuki National Assembly (KNA) submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru on March 24, 1960 seeking establishment of a Kuki State.

The memorandum wrote, “The Kuki National Assembly, India therefore in this general meeting hereby resolves while affirming its solidarity with the rest of the country, to make a just and strong demand of the Government of India for immediate establishment of Kuki State and unification of all contiguous areas NOW UNDER THE HABITATION OF KUKIS in India and to pursue the same demand to its final end in suppression of the earlier demand for establishment of a Kuki district.”

It (the memorandum) claimed that all the tribals of Manipur except the Nagas are known as Kukis in all government records and the same stock of people (Kukis) are known as Chins in Burma (Myanmar). As reflected in the Kuki National Assembly’s memorandum, Kuki is a very loose term.

In its memorandum, the KNA wrote, “There has been no difference of opinion on who the Kukis are but there is difference of opinion on how long this name Kuki, a foreign word, applied to them should be used. Some hold that this should no longer be used while others hold that until and unless a common name agreeable to all is found this name should be used. There can be no two opinions that it should be discarded ultimately when an alternate name is found.”

Although the generic term Kuki is supposed to be discarded ultimately, the so called Kuki tribes have not given up their dream for a separate state. Almost 40 years after the Kuki National Assembly first raised the issue of Kuki separate state, the Kuki State Demand Committee or KSDC was formed on November 2, 2010.

Preceding the formation of KSDC, a meeting was held on September 2, 2010 at New Delhi under the aegis of the Kuki Inpi and the Kuki Nampi Palai where each and every Kuki revolutionary organization was invited to discuss and deliberate the future of the people. With the assent of all the (Kuki) revolutionary groups, the meeting adopted a resolution to seek statehood for the Kukis comprising their ‘ancestral land’.

The voice for separate Kuki state did not go silent with the meeting. By April 2011, district level KSDC offices were opened in Churachandpur, Chandel and Sadar Hills (now Kangpokpi). On May 12, 2011, all the Kuki chiefs became members of KSDC and resolved to support the demand for Kuki statehood. Since 1960 onward, some Kuki people, if not all, have been scheming and struggling for a separate Kuki state.

They challenged and fought hard anything that threatened their dream for a Kukiland. The violent protest which erupted in Churachandpur in September 2015 against the Protection of Manipur Peoples Bill, 2015, the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2015, and the Manipur Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015 fitted perfectly into their scheme of things for a separate Kuki state as the three Bills sought to restrict outsiders from entering the state, buying land and setting up business.

Any restriction on the entry of outsiders threatened the Kukis’ dream for a separate State for they are basically outsiders. On August 18, 2015, Kuki people attacked a peaceful rally which was taken out at Moreh demanding implementation of Inner Line Permit System in Manipur.

The Kuki assailants used firearms, stones, and other weapons to disrupt the rally. They also burnt down the buildings of Meitei Council, Moreh (MCM), Kha-Nongpok Apunba Nupi Lup as well as several shops and properties owned by Meitei people. The Kukis attacked the rally because they saw a threat to their political aspiration for a separate state in the Inner Line Permit System.

The numerous objections raised by Kuki people and confrontation with the government authorities for eviction of encroachers from reserved and protected forests all have their roots in the perceived threats against their dream for a Kukiland.

Their threat perceptions became more pronounced after the government of India extended the Inner Line Permit System to Manipur and the government of Manipur launched a campaign against illegal immigration, encroachment into reserved/protected forests and poppy cultivation.

Driven by these growing perceived threats to their dream for a Kuki state, the Kukis finally waged a war against the unsuspecting Meitei people and the state of Manipur. It is quite evident that the Kuki immigrants did not come to Manipur not just for better life and economic opportunities but they came with a political aspiration to conquer the indigenous people and establish their own state.