Bodos, Kukis suspend hunger strike
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network
Dimapur/Imphal, August 24 2013 :
The Govern-ment of India has assured the Bodo leaders today that talks on the Bodoland issue will be held on September 4 and following this leaders of the Bodoland and Kuki State Demand Committee (KSDC) who were on indefinite hunger strike since August 22 in Assam's Kokrajhar, have suspended their agitation today.
This information was disclosed to Newmai News Network by the KSDC leaders this evening.
The Kuki and the Bodo leaders had engaged in the joint agitation at Kokrajhar demanding a Kuki state in Manipur and Bodoland in Assam.
According to KSDC leaders, the Bodo leaders have assured to be with the movement taken up by the KSDC no matter what.
Meanwhile, KSDC information secretary George Guite in his paper said, "After the occupation of southern Kuki country in the 1890s the erstwhile imaginary line between Tipaimukh and Numsaeelung River which have become the bone of contention between the Kukis and Manipur state was now immediately connected by a clearly demarcated line of boundary by Manipur Chin Boundary Commissions in 1893-94" .
George Guite was presenting a paper on, "History of the kuki home-land movement and ideology and strategies of kuki State movement,' during a one-day consultative meeting held today in Churachandpur at KIC Complex, on the current political scenario of the Kukis in Manipur.
In his lengthy paper, the KSDC leader continued, "It formed the boundary between Manipur and the newly created Chin Hills district.
Manipur-Lushai Hills and Chin Hills-Lushai Hills were also similarly demarcated.
The three lines emerged, as it went on, one of the most formidable 'iron curtain' that divided not only two sovereign countries, India and Burma, but more importantly divided the Kuki people into three-halves.
Thus, the whole Kuki country was crisscrossed by the new boundary regime, at one point cutting them into half in the midst of their territory and at other time part of their territory at the margins were sliced out and given to other state or district.
But the fact remains that this boundary regime and the new authority that came along with were constantly challenged by the Kukis since their inception which were often marked by open rebellion.
The mighty colonial force was difficult to win but the hope to mend it again was never given up".
According to him, while parts of their traditional land, Chin Hills and Lushai Hills, have been directly administered by the colonial power rendering them to excel in all spheres of developmental indexes the case of their territory now included into Manipur state never enjoy such privileges.
House tax was imposed upon the hill tribes at the rate of Rs.3/- and from 1911 all the Kuki villages that does not have more than ten houses were forced to pay double, i.e, Rs.6/- per house.
The hills in general were just considered to be an additional source of revenue to Manipur state without giving anything back to them, the paper said.
"For instance, in 1919 J.B.Webster lamented in his report that Manipuri state annually collected Rs.70,000 as house-tax from the hill tribes but its expenditure on hill development ranged between Rs.17,000 and 19,000 only.
He also complained that there was no sign of any state authority in the hills, hill lambus were annually sent to collect house tax, there was no school except one Missionary school at Ukhrul, and so on," George Guite stated.
The paper then said that except Imphal-Dimapur road there was virtually no road in the hills till this time.
"But all the transportation activities and other manual works of the state were forced to be carried out by the hill tribes.
The hillmen have been just used as human porters of the state: every hillmen is bound to make two journeys per annum to Cachar and bring up loads on the Maharajah's account.
It was recorded that "every amount of tact and ingenuity is displayed by the Manipuris in getting work out of the hill tribes, and many tasks are performed by them in addition to their regular quantum".
Thus, the erstwhile friendly hill people have now been converted into a subjected human labour-machine of the Manipur state.
Porting (pothang in Manipuris) has become the symbol of subjugation which the Kukis were most reluctant to carry out," the paper presented by George Guite said.
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