Bigger agenda behind CCpur protest : Reminiscent of 2015 uproar
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: February 17, 2024 -

Eerily reminiscent of the now withdrawn three Bills of 2015, which sought to protect the indigenous people of the land. Back in September 2015, the State Assembly passed the Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015, Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2015 and Manipur Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015 and in no time Churachandpur went up in flames, resulting in the death of nine people in police action.

Fast forward to 2024 and a similar situation unfolded in the same town on February 15 and while the official line for the protest is ‘the suspension’ of a police Head Constable after he was found supping with armed persons in the midst of the ongoing violent conflict between the Meiteis and the Kukis, many have started reading between the lines questioning whether it is logical to see any connect between the suspension of the police official and such a large scale violence.

It is along this line that the discerning folks have started putting two and two together to surmise that it could be a ploy to destroy all possible records following the public announcement of Chief Minister N Biren that anyone found entering Manipur after 1961 and settling here would be detected and deported.

That many of the Kuki-Zo community come within the understanding of refugees is a given with even NSCN (IM) leader Thuingaleng Muivah having gone on record to state that they are not indigenous to the land and are refugees.

There should be no argument over the fact that the Nagas understand the politics of the Kukis better than anyone else and it was only recently that the Meiteis opened their eyes to the fact that many of them entered the State of Manipur on the sly.

The Sangai Express has already illustrated this point but a repeat is in line here - It was with a reason why the United Naga Council objected to the burial of a late Kuki scholar in Kangpokpi as he was not a native of the land having arrived from Myanmar earlier.

A fact which was underlined by a report which The Sangai Express received from Kangpokpi at that time during the peak of the Covid pandemic.

Again to repeat another point, it was no one else but a Kuki gentleman by the name Paolienlal Haokip who in a write up in a publication of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies on May 3, 2002, talked about how 20,000 Kukis entered Manipur after being driven out of Myanmar in 1967.

The said writer in the same article went on to talk about how more entered Manipur and the other North Eastern States during the August 1998 uprising in Myanmar.

The Sangai Express has already referred to the said article not once, but twice in the last few days, just to illustrate why the apprehension of illegal immigrants is real, very real.

In the same article Mr Haokip went on to state how the drug trade became an easy avenue to make quick money. From here it can be easily inferred why the talk of narco terrorism is real.

Back in 2015, the violent protest against the three Bills rested on the premise that the Hills Area Committee was not consulted and the Governor never gave her assent to the said Bills.

Fast forward to 2024 and the official reason cooked up for the violent protest is the suspension of a police official.

Nothing can get more farcical than this.

If the Tribal Solidarity Rally of May 3, 2023 rested on the false premise of the demand that the Meiteis be granted the Scheduled Tribe status, Churachandpur has taken the lie one more step by citing the violent protest on February 15, 2024 as due to the suspension of the said police official.

The lies continue, the false narrative continues and making things all that more farcical is the allegation that Imphal has not taken any action against the Meitei police personnel found supping with the armed groups in the valley areas.

Not surprising and the lies will continue for the May 3 rally rested and started off on a pack of lies and this was followed by the victim stories that were churned out with so much finesse that even the ongoing clash was sought to be interpreted along religious divide.

That there could be a bigger agenda behind the violence at Churachandpur should be clear to all for this has come close on the heels of the announcement of the Chief Minister that all those found entering Manipur after 1961 would be packed off.

This cannot be just a coincidence.

New Delhi need to seriously take a look at this and question why the Kuki-Zos have opposed the decision to do away with the Free Movement Regime and fence the Indo-Myanmar border.