The Shongthu Chate

In an earlier article titled “ War on Education: Will the Meiteis’ Attempt to Destroy the Intellectual Properties of the Kuki-Zo Backfire? ” published in this Bulletin on February 5, 2024 (TLM Issue No.145), we argued that the Meitei think-tanks had carried out a carefully designed attacks on the Kuki-Zo to destroy their intellectual properties and disrupt the emerging scholarship on their history once and for all. We also anticipated that this evil project of the radicalised Meitei groups could backfire even though it already affected many. In fact, the destruction of a huge quantity of research materials, documents and certificates, many of which are irretrievable, had affected many scholars, intellectuals and students alike. But it also provokes the younger generation to try harder to recoup the loss incurred by this unfortunate evil design of the demonic extremist Meiteis who are hell-bent on destroying or disrupting the slowly increasing educated Kuki-Zo cognoscenti in research an...

     Our hearts melt on the extreme sacrifices      In defending our ancestral land and freedom      We salute you, the brave souls. Adios! What happened on the fateful night of 15 February 2024 at the district headquarter Tuibong, Lamka, was due to the abject incompetency of the district administration particularly the District Superintendent of Police (SP) and the District Magistrate (DC/DM) for failing to assessed the situation on time. It was first the SP, Shri Shivanand Surve, who suspended a police personnel for a mere viral photo and also for confronting the peaceful protesters instead of trying to comprehend the depth of their sentiments, and later the DC/DM, Dr Dharun Kumar S., for giving the order to shoot at the civilians whose demand was simply to revoke the suspension order issued by the SP earlier the day. The failure of the two top district officers in taking the right decisions unfortunately resulted in the loss of at least tw...

On January 24, 2024, all the Meitei legislators, including Shri R.K. Ranjan Singh, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Education, and Leishemba Sanajaoba, MP Rajya Sabha and the titular king of Manipur, bowed to Mr. Korounganba Khuman, the chief of Arambai Tenggol, at Kangla by taking an oath of allegiance. On that fateful day, the 37 MLAs and two MPs, including Mr. N. Biren Singh who was the only one spared in the Oath-Taking ceremony presumably for being the chief minister and overall chief of the Arambai Tenggol, also put their signatures to promising to fulfil the six points raised by the militia group. Notably, the Arambai Tenggol is a newly formed Meitei militia group and has been responsible for most of the atrocities against the Kuki-Zo community in the ongoing ethnic violence.  The oath-taking ceremony which was held at the Utra Shanglen, a sacred site in Kangla highly revered by the majority community, was strongly resented by all the major Kuki-Zo fronta...

Meitei, the dominant community in Manipur, is a relatively homogenous society, all speaking the same language, Manipuri (Meitei Lon), as their mother tongue. However, with too many organisations with diverse opinions, they are often disorganised and divided. Beginning with the merger of Manipur with India in 1949, the community leaders were and are always divided on any issue confronting them.  Back in April 1980, the All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU) launched an Anti-Foreigners’ Movement with an aim to deport alleged “illegal immigrants” from Bangladesh and Nepalis (Gorkhas) from Nepal. The latter were actually protected by the Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship, 1950. The hate campaign against the Nepalis almost turned into an ethnic cleansing pogrom in the 1980s which was soon diverted, due to the backing of Government of India, towards the Pangals (Manipuri Muslims). This resulted in the May Riot of 1993 with about 200 deaths and 400 odd houses razed to the ground....

(Courtesy: Thingkho le Malcha, Issue No.148, Date 08-02-2024, pp.8-9) ------------------- Si nce the current ethnic cleansing pogrom began on May 3, 2023, the Meiteis keep changing their narratives as one changes clothes. Initially, the narrative pushed forward by Meitei intelligentsia was to portray the ethnic violence as a clash between the Hindus and Christians to drag the mainland Indians in their favour. To make it appear communal, hundreds of churches were either burnt, or destroyed, in Imphal, including those belonging to the Meiteis. Meitei flags were raised on the top of those churches as often seen in mainland India. Later, as more academics like Prof. A. Bimol Akoijam joined the narrative war, the Hindu-Christian storyline was disbanded and was shifted towards illegal immigrants, poppy cultivators and forest encroachers. The once victimised Meitei Christians, such as Philem Rohan Singh, were drawn into the fold of the Meiteis to shift the goalpost. Though the efforts gaine...

The Kukis had a vital place in the history of northeast India as well as parts of Burma (Myanmar) and Bangladesh where they are more recognised as Chin and Kuki-Chin respectively. In Tripura, a significant portion of its history is about the Kukis since pre-colonial time. Again in Nagaland, the Naga national movement will always remain incomplete without the contribution of the Kukis. Similarly, the Kukis were very much part of the Mizo movement. The Kukis of Assam also played crucial parts in Assam's history especially their help to the Kachari kings. In the neighbouring country Burma, the Chins, including the Kukis, have actively participated since the fight for democracy began in the 1940s. Even in the ongoing civil war against the Military Junta, the Kuki National Army-Burma (KNA-B) is tirelessly fighting alongside the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) and Chin ethnic armies. In Bangladesh, the fight for a separate homeland for the Kuki-Chins has been spearheaded by Kuki-Chin Na...

The ongoing ethnic turmoil is not just a state-sponsored ethnic cleansing pogrom perpetrated by the majority Meitei community against the minority Kuki-Zo but also an attempt to destroy the latter's intellectual properties forever. Even before the current violence broke out, there had already been a systematic attempt to disrupt the slowly emerging scholarly research on the histories of the Kukis.  The first such attempt at disrupting the academic works of the Kukis was the open denial of the existence of the Anglo-Kuki War, 1917–1919. Even though detractors opposed the term "Anglo-Kuki War," they all accepted that the Kukis had actually fought the British during the First World War. For many, the term "war" was a problem. They argued that it should be used only between two sovereign nations. Yet they didn't realize that all the hill tribes were independent of valley state control. Meanwhile, a Meitei professor, A. Bimol Akoijam, argued in a social media pos...

The Meitei chief minister, N. Biren Singh, recently said that he was anticipating the current ethnic turmoil back in 2013 which he claimed he had already expressed the same in his social media post. He also pointed out that when he shared about such possible ethnic flare-up in the near future, his seniors [politicians] mocked him for being too naive. Now, a critical observation of the series of events that unfold since Biren became the CM, particularly from the latter part of 2021, all pointed towards a well thought out plan possibly involving experts from all walks of life including intellectuals, academics, social activists, defence personnel, intelligence, top police officers, lawyers, and even journalists, most of whom remained behind the screen. However, when their militias began attacking the Kuki-Zo, few individuals and organisations stood out above others though many participated and competed for relevance in Imphal valley. Among these, the Arambai Tenggols led by Mr. Koroungan...