KCP shares thoughts on ethnic conflict
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, April 14 2024: The proscribed Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) reportedly celebrated its 44th Raising Day on Sunday (April 14).On the occasion, KCP's Politburo Standing Committee chairman Ibungo Ngangom, on behalf of the outfit, conveyed heartfelt gratitude to the people of Kangleipak for their invaluable support to the movement for restoration of sovereignty of Kangleipak (Manipur).

In his message on the occasion, Ibungo Ngangom cautioned that the very existence of Kangleipak is under real threat at present owing primarily to the short-sighted and selfish politico-bureaucratic moves on the part of New Delhi's political puppets in Kangleipak.

Indeed, the patriotic forces that had played a significant role in maintaining and protecting the overall sanctity of Kangleipak and also in preventing cross-border narco-terrorist elements of hybrid ethnicity were systematically weakened for the sake of selfish political gams especially during the 2000s and 2010s, when fake encounter killings were the order of the day.

Moreover, the Operation All Clear, launched at the behest and, with the approval, of the government of Manipur and spearheaded by the Army and Assam Rifles, not only ended the control of the hills of Kangleipak by the patriotic forces, but also gave several Kuki-Zo narco-terrorist elements a golden opportunity to start dominating the vast forest land in the western, southern and south-eastern regions of Kangleipak with the help of Indian armed forces, invariably resulting in the present inter-community conflict, which has been orchestrated by the Kuki-Zo narco-terrorist elements to transform the sacred fertile hills of Kangleipak into a sea of poppy plants, Ibungo Ngangom said in his message.

Though the Indian armed forces deployed in Kangleipak along with state force had all the resources to nip the ongoing communal conflict in the bud, it was systematically let out of control by the central' powers with the idea of driving a wedge between the two warring communities and playing one community off against the other in their endeavour to quell the armed separatist movement in Kangleipak.

Instead of playing a neutral role in this conflict, many instances of the central forces, helping the armed Kuki-Zo narco-terrorist elements with tactical resources, have already come to the fore, thus exposing the truth that the ongoing bloody conflict had been 'prepared and activated' and is now being perpetuated with a set of fabricated-in-advance narratives, by the Kuki-Zo narco-terrorist elements with the connivance of the central powers, the message added.

It is also beyond any doubt that the systematic prolongation of the ongoing violent conflict between the Meetei/Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities has a number of geopolitical and geostrategic factors, owing to which the government of India has not only remained a mute spectator, but also turned a blind eye to all the evil activities and designs of the Kuki-Zo narco-terrorist elements.

Indeed, the government of India is fully aware of the fact that the success of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, which also carries geostrategic ramifications for India, is now heavily dependent on the overall cooperation' of certain Myanmar-based armed insurgent groups sharing close ethnic and ideological ties with the Kuki-Zo community in India.

Moreover, with the military junta in Myanmar now confronted with an existential challenge, the government of India cannot just afford to underestimate the importance of such Myanmar-based armed insurgent groups in denying China, India's arch rival, a direct access to the Bay of Bengal, which is apparently the ultimate military goal in terms of its India encirclement policy.

So, despite the fact that the vast majority of the Meetei/Meitei community are officially considered Hindus and almost the entire Kuki-Zo people are Christians, the all-powerful' Hindutva-driven government at the centre has to develop and deploy an apparently pro-Kuki strategy in response to the ongoing communal conflict in Kangleipak as anything to the contrary is bound to have adverse economic and geostrategic implications for India in the Kuki-Chin-Zo regions of Myanmar.

Despite the multitude of external factors in the ongoing conflict in Kangleipak, an effective and meaningful resolution thereof can only emerge from an honest and direct dialogue between the two warring communities.

As such, it is extremely important that the civil society organisations of both the warring communities accept how hard and difficult life has be-come for the general populace of both the communities since May 3, 2023 so that the ice can be broken with the acceptance of that critical fact.

Moreover, the two warring communities have to meaningfully address each other's genuine concerns.

A communal conflict being the antithesis of peaceful co-existence, sans which no real long-term socio-economic progress is attainable in a multi-communal socio-economic ecosystem like Kangleipak, every community has to prioritise peaceful coexistence, which should also involve helping address each other's genuine concerns and achieve rightful aspirations.

Though the Meeteis/Meiteis have gften been blamed for barbaric acts in the ongoing conflict, many unthinkable acts of barbarism on the part of the armed Kuki-Zo elements have already come to the fore.

Being a 2000-year old civilization with a rich humanistic heritage, the Meeteis/Meiteis should never try to match or Surpass the Kuki-Zo community in the area of barbarism.

Being an organisation strictly governed by a set of progressive principles, the KCP has never indulged in anything that goes against the basic Meetei/Meitei ethos.

Even in the course of the ongoing conflict and also in the face of extreme provocation, KCP comrades have never targeted, hurt or killed any unarmed civilians of the Kuki-Zo community, or destroyed their properties, Ibungo Ngangom said in his message adding that KCP will continue to hunt for the subhuman Kuki-Zo narco-terrorist elements until they are completely wiped out from the sacred soil of Kangleipak.

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