NSCN-IM and KNO signed MoU in Oct 2010 to carve out Manipur
Creation of Kukiland and Greater Nagalim, demarcation of boundaries agreed upon
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, January 13, 2011:
The Kuki National Organisation (KNO) demanding a separate state to be carved out of Manipur is understood to have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN)-IM regarding the boundary of �Nagalim� and �Kuki-state�.
The NSCN-IM has also been seeking to integrate Naga inhabited areas in Manipur to Nagaland to form Greater Nagaland.
A highly placed source said that the MoU was signed between the KNO and NSCN-IM in October last year and it was witnessed by leaders of civil and students organisations of both Kukis and Nagas.
Leaders of Kuki Inpi, Kuki Nampi Palai, Kuki Students' Organisation represented the Kuki people and the Naga people was represented by leaders of United Naga Council (UNC), All Naga Students' Association of Manipur (ANSAM), Naga Students' Federation (NSF) and Naga Peoples' Movement for Human Rights, the source disclosed.
The MoU was signed with the objective of ending the decade old conflict over the lands inhabited by the Kukis and the Nagas in the hills of Manipur.
�The Kuki and Naga people shall maintain the best of fraternal relations and work together to preserve peace in the land and usher in progress and human welfare in the Kuki and Naga states and the rest of the world,' the fourth and last point of the MoU stated.
The first point of the MoU stated that history is witness to the fact that the present hill districts of Manipur have been inhabited exclusively by the indigenous Kuki and Naga peoples prior to any recorded historiography of the region and the lands form their ancestral territory.
�We had our own established systems of governing these lands until the British placed our lands under the Manipur Durbar.
The Meitei Kingdom always consisted of the valley areas which today form the valley districts of Manipur,� it added.
The hill areas presently demarcated as Churachandpur and Chandel districts of Manipur, the autonomous Sadar Hills Region of Senapati district and all Kuki villages in Ukhrul, Senapati and Tamenglong districts contiguous to Chandel, Sadar hills and Churachandpur belong to the Kuki people and shall form the Kuki state.
Likewise, the hill areas presently demarcated as Ukhrul and Tamenglong districts of Manipur, the areas of Senapati district other than the Sadar Hills Autonomous region, and all Naga villages in the Sadar Hills region of Senapati, Chandel and Churachandpur districts belong to the Naga people and shall be integrated into greater Nagalim, the second point of the MoU declared.
The third point states, the Kuki villages in the interior of Ukhrul, Tamenglong and areas of Senapati district other than the "Autonomous District Region of Sadar Hills" will remain within greater Nagalim and the Naga government will endeavour to protect, promote and develop these villages and the people with equality, a spirit of fraternity and fairness.
The Naga villages in the interiors of Sadar Hills Autonomous Region in Senapati district, Chandel and Churachandpur districts shall remain within the Kuki state and the Kuki government shall endeavour to protect, promote and develop these villages and the people with equality, a spirit of fraternity and fairness.
The MoU was signed between KNO president PS Haokip and general secretary NSCN(IM) Th Muivah, disclosed the source.
The MoU was signed with full regard for the aspirations of the people for self-determination, peace, development, progress and peaceful co-existence, and so that people can join the rest of the country and the world in the march into the 21st century and beyond, and the signatories have mutually resolved to commit the peoples to the declaration, the source said.
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