Kangleipak an occupied territory, alleges KYKL-2
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, April 24 2026:

Contd from previous issue .

The Government of India's policy supporting the Kuki community to make them the paramount community in Manipur while subjugating other communities is aimed at easing occupation of Manipur, read the KYKL Chairman's statement.

This does not mean India loves Kukis; they are only using Kukis as a tool.

Kukis may get some benefits when they remain an ally of the (Indian) empire but it will not last long.

Some Kuki leaders may have known about it.

Just like other communities, Kukis too are colonised people of Bharat, it said.

Today, Kuki chiefs are getting lots of money and enjoying many privileges.

They are also exercising lots of powers antithetical to the principles of democracy.

This arrangement would certainly be a strategy to use the Kuki chiefs as agents of the alleged colonial rule, said KYKL Chairman N Oken.

He said that the mushrooming of Kuki villages is a part of the policy to raise the number of colonial agents.

Corruption - a gift of colonial rule

Nigerian Marxist historian Dr Segun O Osoba commented that the malaise of corruption which is ailing African Nations like cancer originated from British, French and other European rulers.

The European leaders used African chiefs to collect exorbitant tax from the people and the chiefs got a small percentage of the tax they collected.

The European leaders gave the post of tax collectors to individuals who could offer greater kick-backs.

To recuperate they gave to the colonial rulers to get the post of tax collectors, they collected extra tax from the public.

This sowed the seeds of rampant corruption in the African societies, Oken said.

Like in Africa, the malaise of corruption got worse in Manipur after the arrival of British colonial rulers and the Indian successors.

Now, every administrative post starting from Chief Minister to LDC including Police Sub-Inspectors has a price tag.

This formalised form of corruption is a product of the alleged Indian colonial rule.

This malaise of corruption has spread to the masses/voters and they take money for casting votes.

As the MLAs get elected only after paying money to voters, they embark on earning money through corrupt and deceitful means once they are sworn in as MLAs.

"We are not a corrupt society by nature.

The rampant corruption seen today is a gift of Indian colonial rule", Oken said.

Creation of loafers by colonial system

Even though Meiteis are said to be generally lazy, this character of being loafers is not naturally inherent in the traits of Meitei people.

There are many documents written by British officers which described Meiteis as hard-working people.

Major General Sir James Johnstone who served as the British Political Agent in Manipur from 1877 to 1886 wrote, "Certainly, the Manipuris have stable and industrious qualities which the Burmese and Shans do not possess".

"Now, we no longer have the quality of being industrious", the KYKL leader remarked.

These qualities of being industrious were there till around 1949 .

Meiteis had this hard-working trait till around 1972 although it had declined to some extent.

After 1972, Meiteis lost this hard-working quality dramatically.

This evoked a serious question how Meiteis lost their hardworking quality within a short span of just 50 years, Oken said before adding that similar changes were seen in many colonized Nations.

Before 1949, Manipur's economy was largely agricultural or subsistence economy and there was limited trade with other countries.

Given this reality, there was no room for the growth of mercantile capitalism or the first stage of capitalism unlike what was witnessed in 15th century Europe.

As there was no room for the growth of the first stage of capitalism, it was impossible for the second and third stages of capitalism to take roots on the soil of Manipur, Oken said.

If Manipur should develop and grow economically after its merger with India, special focus should have been given on development of road infrastructure and its economic policies should have been oriented towards capitalism but this was not done.

Instead, some petty officers, clerks, a few thousand police personnel and some teachers were appointed just to make governance possible.

Establishment of factories or industries was nowhere in the picture.

In the absence of other job avenues, Government jobs became the top aspirations of almost all the people.

After Manipur attained Statehood in 1972, appointment to Government jobs rose dramatically and this trend has been continuing till today.

With excess employees appointed to each and every Government office/department, the employees have little work and this conditioned Meiteis to become lazybones, read the KYKL Chairman's statement.

MGNREGA too has turned out to be a programme for converting hard-working Meitei women into lazybones, it said.

"What is ailing Meitei people is not laziness.

The ailment is lack of business tradition and absence of motivation", it asserted.

Moreover, Indian capitalists do not invest in frontier regions like Manipur and they have no reason to do so.

Heartland capitalists are interested in investing in the frontier States only on mining, plantation etc.

This is a global phenomenon, it said.

West Bengal is lagging behind South India and Western India (Gujarat, Maharshtra) because like Manipur, West Bengal is infatuated with Government jobs.

This infatuation with Government jobs in West Bengal was a creation of British colonialism.

But.

in Manipur, this is a product of Indian imperialism.

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