Kuki Inpi submits memo against new land acquisition Act
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, July 16 2014: Reacting to the Manipur Gazette Notification No.72 dated 16th June 2014 regarding the new land acquisition Act, Kuki Inpi has submitted a memorandum to the Government of Manipur seeking restraint on going ahead with the proposed Act.

The memorandum addressed to the Secretary (Revenue), Government of Manipur and jointly signed by A Lenthang of Kumpi Kuki Inpi and Satkai Chongloi of Semang Kuki Inpi stated that the Govt of Manipur has taken up numerous initiatives which infringe the ancestral, socio-political rights of the Kuki people.

Prior to the colonisation of the Indo-Myanmar region by the British, this vast region including Manipur was populated dominantly by the Kuki people and others with full fledged sovereignty in the form of the "Kuki Inpi" and Manipur Kings, the memorandum said.

It also recalled that Kuki Inpi (people) waged many wars to resist the British colonialism from 1761 to 1919, In Manipur, the resistance to British rule is recorded as the Anglo-Kuki War 1917-1919 covering the entire hill area of Manipur including the present North East India and North West Myanmar, the memorandum added.

During British colonial period, the socio-political structure remained mostly intact as compared to other colonised areas, while the Kuki village chiefs and Naga Khullakpas were not taxed by the British, it said and added that the land ownership rights, freedom of movement and traditional administrations were not disturbed.

After the end of colonialism in south and south-east Asia, the Kuki and Nagas population got divided on papers under India, erstwhile East Pakistan and Myanmar sovereign states.

However, due to the historical socio-political rights enjoyed by the Kukis and other tribal peoples in the region, land ownership rights and freedom of movement have not been disturbed, it continued saying border fencing, forest laws, land-use laws, village authority acts etc should not be taken up without considering the historical/ancestral socio-political framework of the "Kuki country" or "Independent Hill Country" .

Such initiatives would not only be a violation of ancestral socio-political rights but also a gross violation of Human Rights of the Kuki and other Indigenous peoples of the whole region, it asserted.

Comment