Pawns in the board game of Zelengam
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: October 13, 2023 -

EVEN if it is not going to completely silence the voices of those who are playing the victim card with an ulterior motive, the probe that has been started by National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the activities of three Kuki militant groups and one Zomi militant group for their alleged involvement in stoking the current communal violence between the Meitei/Meetei and Kuki-Chin communities in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur is surely going to make a dent in the demand for a separate administration for the allegedly prosecuted Kuki-Chin people.

The demand was first raised by 10 MLAs Kuki-Zo MLAs within days of outbreak of the communal conflict, the first spark of which was lit in Churachandpur district where a Tribal Solidarity March taken out against the demand for recognition of Meitei/Meetei as ST turned violent on May 3 last.

The question of why the Tribal Solidarity March sponsored by All Tribal Students' Union, Manipur (ATSUM) in all the hill districts turned violent only in Churachandpur district while it ended peacefully in other areas has already been answered from the videos showing people carrying sophisticated weapons in the Churachandpur rally.

From Churachandpur district, where all the houses of Meitei/Meetei people were either burnt down or razed to the ground, the violence soon spread to other Kuki-Chin dominated areas like Kangpokpi district and Moreh in Tengnoupal district, forcing the angry Meitei/Meetei people in the valley to retaliate.

For anyone who care to scratch the surface little deeper, it was hard to miss the fact that the violence that broke out in Churachandpur district was a well-planned and pre-mediated attack on the Meiteis/Meeteis, who have always stood against infiltration from Myanmar through the porous international boundary and proliferation of illegal poppy cultivation by clearing the forest covers with aid from these illegal immigrants, many of whom are mercenaries forced out of the neighbouring country following the military coup in 2021.

The probe of NIA into the activities of three Kuki militant groups and one Zomi militant group for their alleged involvement in stoking the current communal violence in Manipur is said to have been taken up following instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which seems to have been finally woken up to the danger posed by these militant groups to the national security of the country.

By revealing that these militant groups are getting support from the Myanmar-based People's Defence Force (PDF), which is fighting against the military Junta in the neighbouring country since the 2021 coup, and they intend to hive off an independent Chin-Kuki-Zomi state out of Manipur, Bangladesh and Myanmar; the Ministry has reaffirmed what the Meitei/Meeteis have been saying right from the beginning, that the demand for a separate administration raised by the 10 Kuki MLAs is just a ruse devised for a larger conspiracy in the making.

Meiteis/Meeteis have always been pointing to the nexus of militancy, narcotics and illegal infiltration from across the international border as the main factors for fuelling the present conflict in Manipur and calling for review of the Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement signed with the Kuki militant groups.

With the ministry ordering the specialized counter-terrorism law enforcement agency in the country to conduct a probe into the activities of four militant groups, including two groups which are currently under the SoO agreement, things are falling in place. All these developments have shown how deep is the conspiracy to break apart the territorial integrity of Manipur.

So, even if the voices of those who are playing the victim card with an ulterior motive remain ringing, it is high time for the innocent Kuki-Chin brethren to think over how they have been used and misused as pawns in the larger board game of Zalengam.