Reflections on the statement of the Kuki Inpi Manipur on the impending settlement of the Indo-Naga issue Dr. B. Angami | Kuda Village, Dimapur Eastern Mirror (Daily Newspaper) Date: 17/11/2012 The 20th October 2012 statement of the Kuki Inpi Manipur(KIM) wherein it was given out that “Kukis want Justice before Naga solution” is of confusing interest. At first glance one cannot see the connection between the two. Disclaimers or disownments were expected from Kuki intellectuals and other organisations but none came till date as far as the writer knows. After having pondered upon it and some research, this article has been written to put into political and historical perspective the issue that have been presented by the President KIM in the public interest particularly in Nagaland and in the present state of Manipur. The Kuki-Naga clash during 1990s was a conflict on communal lines which was sparked off by narrow interest of some trading and business interest in Moreh and fuelled by the inaction of the Manipur State Government which stood to gain in the tribal divide. It was not the NSCN(IM) but the Nagas and Kukis in Manipur who got embroiled in that mindless violence that had spiralled out of control. The Kuki Inpi President says that Kukis have no problem with Nagas but in the same breathe he charges the NSCN(IM) of ethnic cleansing through which thousands were slaughtered and hundreds of villages uprooted during the clash of the 1990s. One cannot see how Mr Haokip can delineate the NSCN(IM) or for that matter with the NSCN(K) or the FGN from the Naga people. The Naga political groups cannot be detached from the Naga people. We also know for sure that many Nagas in Manipur were also killed in the ethnic conflict in as gruesome and inhuman a manner as were many Kukis and many Naga villages were also uprooted. It becomes a matter of statistics, which sometimes is used as a yardstick of who has been more wronged or more aggrieved. Even our Kuki brethren in Nagaland had felt insecure at that time although they had nothing to do with the incidents at Moreh. Naga political groups could have at that time turned on the soft targets in Nagaland if what Mr Haokip is true. But that is not so. There was a machination and orchestration within the state of Manipur, which the two biggest tribal communities knowingly ignored, allowing emotions to take control of their minds and hearts, to their own peril. If we are to go into the past, history shows that victims of the Kuki Rebellion in 1917-19 were their fellow tribal Nagas, thousands of whom were massacred by the 2000 Kuki irregulars armed with 600 muzzle loading guns supplied by the Churachand Maharaj of the Meitei Kingdom. Though termed as the Kuki Rebellion not one officers or soldier of the Brititish crown or the Meitei Maharaja against whom they had rebelled was killed. It was only the Nagas. It is historical fact. Can we solve that outstanding issue going by the yardstick that the KIM President is now demanding? Has the Kuki Inpi approached the Supreme Court which is the proper authority for dispensation of justice for citizens of India, which Mr Haokip claims to be? The SADAR hills districthood demand is understood to be an attempt to regularise more than 50 Kuki villages which had evidently been set up by illegal migrants leading to corresponding sharp increase in Kuki population since the 1970s in the SADAR hills areas under Senapati district. Similar influx of illegal migrants has also been reported in Chandel District. It is not fair at all. Everyone must have their due but attempt at usurpation through force, fraud and unholy alliances with the actual common foe cannot be taken unchallenged. But are we to scoop up all the dirts from the past and not look to the present for the future. As a tribal from a neighbouring state, one can see that the Kuki in Nagaland who are enjoying all benefits of a tribal as bonafide citizen are not being enjoyed by the Kukis in Manipur. Why? Because of the Govternment of Manipur that runs in the interest of the dominant community. Nagas and Kukis will blame each other for taking the lion share of development for the hills or tribal reservation etc, when it is actually the majority community which takes away almost everything and leaves the crumbs for the tribals to fight among themselves. While Mr Haokip has distanced himself from the demands of Kuki armed groups, it would be pertinent to mention that the Suspension of Operation (SOO) agreement signed by the Kuki militant groups more than 5 years ago with the Government of Manipur and the Indian Army has a clause that the territorial integrity of Manipur will not be disturbed. It does not in any way include registering of the historical and political legitimacy of the demands of the Kuki militants and was pointedly aimed at ending militancy. We understand that no dialogue has taken place till date and that the militants are being pressurised to surrender their arms as required by the ground rule of the SOO agreement. On the other hand the negotiation on the Indo-Naga issue is reportedly nearing settlement. The question therefore is whether the Kuki Inpi statement is targeted negatively towards the Naga solution, which is not only for the NSCN(IM) but for all Nagas? Or is the statement just a bargaining chip at this juncture? Or is it being placed at the behest of the communal forces that does not desire to see a smooth settlement of the Naga issue. It was reported in the media that the KIM President was conferred the Guest of Honour in the 15th February, 2010 Naga Seed Sowing Festival at Ukhrul wherein Kuki cultural troupe also performed an exuberant item. That was very encouraging. This time around some militant groups from the Kuki fold advised against observation of the September 13 as Black Day as it was backward looking and without visionary outlook. Indeed this again was very encouraging. But the statement of the President KIM under reference came as much as a surprises as also a disappointment. I would earnestly request the Kuki Naga brethren in Nagaland to reach out to the Kuki Inpi with the message that KIM should not fall prey to the short term tactics of the common adversary and that it must strive to prove against the label of treachery and unreliability stamped upon nomadics by the Britishers. It is indeed important for the Kukis to build up a consistent political vision to be taken seriously by the world at large. The settlement of the Indo-Naga issue will take place sooner or later because history demands, because India wants peace with the Nagas, because the Nagas want peace. Kukis and Meiteis also need to support the settlement because we will all be beneficiaries of the peace dividend. Having said so, the humble suggestion from this end is that tribals in Manipur should get together. Nagas in Manipur should be open and not be exclusive and isolated from the general tribal interest. Settlement of the Indo-Naga issue or not, tribals are tribals, ethnic clash or not (it happened most unfortunately), they face the same discrimination and exploitation by the majority community. It is not that Meiteis are evil and outright inhuman. They have their morals and principals and also their genuine fears and insecurity. But the skewed principle and system of co-existence such as the one obtaining in Manipur will invariably continue to foment communal tension/conflict between the minority and the dominant majority. Only when a balance is struck, the tribals will be respected by the Meiteis. So long as that does not happen, one knows how the “ism” in us will be exploited as easily as lighting a match stick on a haystack any time. It is a fact of life that has been proved over and over again here and elsewhere in the world. Tribals must leave aside their narrow pride and ego and come together to free themselves from the hegemonic suppression of the majority community. Tribals and the Majority Meitei can be good neighbours after they are separated in governance because the homelands, i.e. of the Meiteis and tribals, are contiguous to each other and each have many economic and trade interdependences through which mutual growth and prosperity can be pushed up. Respect each other’s identity and history, look at the future with posterity in mind and the rest will take care of itself.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 13:13:27 +0000