An appeal in connection with 4th July rally of Kuki Inpi
An Appeal from the Naga Voices

2nd July, 2014

As per newspaper reports, the Kuki people under the aegis of the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) will hold a peaceful protest rally on coming July 4 to air their grievances over the alleged lackadaisical attitude of the Government of India towards the plight of the Kukis who had "endured the criminal and genocidal acts" of the NSCN-IM in the 1990s. We are constrained to put into perspective the issue at the core of this matter in the public interest and to request for a review on the part of the KIM and the Kuki people at large.

The Kuki-Naga clash during 1990s was a conflict on communal lines which was sparked off by narrow interest of some trading and business interest in Moreh and fuelled by the inaction of the Manipur State Government which stood to gain in the tribal divide. It was not the NSCN(IM) but the Nagas and Kukis in Manipur who were got embroiled in that mindless violence that had spiralled out of control. In the process many were killed, villages burnt and destroyed, thousands rendered homeless in as gruesome and inhuman a manner on both sides. It becomes a matter of statistics, which sometimes is used as a yardstick of who has been more wronged or more aggrieved. This unfortunate episode is well documented by both Nagas and Kukis.

If we are to go into the past, history shows that the victims of the Kuki Rebellion in 1917-19 were their fellow tribal Nagas, thousands of whom were massacred by the 2000 Kuki irregulars armed with 600 muzzle loading guns supplied by the Churachand Maharaj of the Meitei Kingdom. Though termed as the Kuki Rebellion not one officers or soldier of the Brititish crown or the Meitei Maharaja against whom they had rebelled was killed. It was only the Nagas. It is historical fact. Can we solve that outstanding issue going by the manner that the KIM is now demanding ?

There was a machination and orchestration within the state of Manipur and also covert support and involvement of the Government of India agencies, which the two biggest tribal communities knowingly ignored, allowing emotions to take control of their minds and hearts, to their own peril.

The SADAR hills districthood demand is an attempt to regularise more than 50 Kuki villages which had evidently been set up by illegal migrants leading to corresponding sharp increase in Kuki population since the 1970s in the SADAR hills areas under Senapati. Similar influx of illegal migrants have also been reported in Chandel District. Everyone must have their due but attempt at usurpation through force, fraud and unholy alliances with the actual common foe cannot be taken unchallenged. Even the Joint Secretary North East in charge of the Govt. of India had publicly questioned as to where Kuki land is.

But are we to scoop up all the dirts from the past and not look to the present for the future. The Kuki in Nagaland who are enjoying all benefits of a tribals as bonafide citizen are not being enjoyed by the Kukis in Manipur. Why ? because of the Govt. of Manipur that runs in the interest of the dominant community. Nagas and Kukis will blame each other for taking the lion share of development for the hills or tribal reservation etc, when it is actually the majority community which takes away almost everything and leaves the crumps for the tribals to fight among themselves.

The question therefore is whether the Kuki Inpi statement is targeted negatively towards the Naga solution, which is not only for the NSCN(IM) but for all Nagas ? Or is the KIM’s posture just a bargaining chip at this juncture ? Or is it being placed at the behest of the communal forces that does not desire to see a smooth settlement of the Naga issue.

We would earnestly requested the KIM should not fall prey to the short term tactics of the common adversary and that it must strive to prove against the label of treachery and unreliability stamped upon them as nomadics by the Britishers. It is indeed important for the Kukis to build up a consistent political vision to be taken seriously by the world at large.

The settlement of the Indo-Naga issue will take place sooner or later because history demands, because India want peace with the Nagas, because the Nagas want peace. Kukis also need to support the settlement because we will all be beneficiaries of the peace dividend. Settlement of the Indo-Naga issue or not, tribals are tribals, ethnic clash or not (it happened most unfortunately), they face the same discrimination and exploitation by the majority community. It is not that Meiteis are evil and outright inhuman.

They have their morals and principals and also their genuine fears and insecurity. But the skewed principle and system of co-existence such as the one obtaining in Manipur will invariably continue to foment communal tension/conflict between the minority and the dominant majority. Only when a balance is struck, the tribals will be respected by the Meiteis. So long as that does not happen, one only know how the “ism” in us will be exploited as easily as lighting a match stick on a haystack any time.

Tribals must leave aside their narrow pride and ego and come together to free themselves from the hegemonic suppression of the majority community. Tribals and the Majority Meitei can be good neighbours after they are separated in governance because the homelands ie that of the Meiteis and tribals are contiguous to each other and each have many economic and trade interdependences through which mutual growth and prosperity can be pushed up. Respect for truth of history and wisdom in recognising the fact of the day’s situation can only be rejected for the worst.

This is the view of the younger generation to whom the future belongs and the leadership of the time particularly of the KIM must pay heed to them, lest they become irrelevant.

Joseph A. Kangho
Publicity and Research Wing
Naga Voices,
Camp – Shillong.
nagavoices(at)rediffmail(dot)com