Kukis are not indigenes : Bijoy
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, August 01 2023:
In a strongly worded allegation, political commentator Chongtham Bijoy has categorically stated that Kukis are not indigenous to Manipur nor can they drive away the indigenes of the State.
Addressing the media at his residence at Lamphel today, Ch Bijoy refuted the claim by BJP MLA Paolienlal Haokip who recently made a controversial statement that the way forward to finding a solution to the State's conflict is by creating three separate Union Territories.
According to Ch Bijoy, Paolienlal Haokip also accused the Manipur Government of trying to rob the rights of the tribal people and of depicting the entire Kuki people as drug smugglers and poppy planters.
Reacting sharply to the statement of the BJP MLA, the political commentator said that Kukis should never consider themselves to be the indigenous to the State by distorting history.
On creating three separate Union Territories, Ch Bijoy said that the dream of Kukis to disintegrate Manipur and establish their homeland will not yield any fruit.
Asking what rights has the Manipur Government robbed from the tribal people, Ch Bijoy said that the rights of the tribal people also come under the Constitution of India.
Do Indian laws allow poppy plantations, drug manufacture, deforestation, poaching and bringing in illegal immigrants without any documents, he asked.
Further stating that the demand to increase the seat of the tribal MLAs in the State Assembly by compromising with others is groundless, Ch Bijoy continued that the people will not remain mute spectators if there is delimitation exercise based on population ratio without identifying illegal immigrants from Myanmar who intruded into the State.
He also asked why some sections of people are against implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Manipur and border fencing works.
Reiterating that Kukis should never count themselves as indigenous people of the State, Ch Bijoy asked the people to understand why the British classified the Kukis into two groups-old and new.
Ch Bijoy claimed that Meitei people started settling in Churachandpur before the arrival of the new Kukis.
There is no such thing as Anglo-Kuki War (1917-1919) in the context of Manipur history, he claimed.
Ch Bijoy went on to claim there are former MPs of Myanmar among the leaders of Suspension of Operation (SoO) signatory Kuki militant groups and most of its cadres are from Myanmar.