The Shongthu Chate

Imphal-based Since the beginning of the current ethnic cleansing campaign, which has been spearheaded largely by the Arambai Tenggols, the Imphal based Meitei media houses have become minting places of fake news, propaganda, and one-sided news alone. Any violent incidents involving armed men have been blamed on the “Kuki militants.” Dissemination of such lies and fabricated information has been widely assisted by social media accounts handled by Meiteis and those sympathetic towards the dominant community. One simple example was how the Kuki militants were accused of committing the unfortunate incident at Lilong on New Year's Day where at least five Pangals (Manipur Muslims) were killed. And most of the national and international media houses who have been covering Manipur violence since May 3 are aware of this fact. The manufacturing of fabricated news has been openly backed by state machineries including the DIPR, Manipur Police and the state government including the Meitei c...

Dear Brethren, we will be embarking on a new journey soon as we are electing a new Member of Parliament (MP), I am delighted to pen down a few words from the bottom of my heart. This message is for all the tribals of Outer Manipur, particularly the Nagas, who will be voting in the second phase of polling on 26 April 2024. Brethren, we all know that the first phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elections in Manipur was held on 19 April 2024 amidst uncertainty and fears. In many parts of the Valley districts, the festival of democracy was marred by unprecedented violence in which at least three people were reportedly arrested for violent activities. Following massive outrage from the opposition parties, a repoll was also conducted in 11 polling stations on 22 April. During the first phase, we observed two contrasting pictures in the Kuki-dominated districts of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi. Whereas Churachandpur district reported a reasonably high percentage of voting, most of the polli...

In Manipur, the 23 rd of April is observed as a State Holiday on account of Khongjom Day. Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of Manipur's history, or those born and brought up in the state, is aware of its significance. The Khongjom Lan (Khongjom War) which unfolded against the backdrop of a series of confrontations between the British and the Manipuri royal family stemmed from a palace revolt, or coup, led by Tikendrajit Singh on 21 st September 1890. The coup was aimed to depose Maharaja Surchandra Singh and install Kulachandra Singh as the ruler. Surachandra initially agreed to abdicate the throne but soon sought British assistance to regain the throne. As the British decided to interfere in the internal matters of the princely state, it resulted in the execution of Chief Commissioner Quinton and his party, including Grimwood. This event finally led to the Battle of Khongjom on 23 rd April 1891 (although some historians are of the opinion that the Battle was fought on ...

Since the beginning of the current ethnic violence, the Kuki-Zo community has never blamed the entire Meitei community for initiating the violence but rather placed the responsibility on the radicalized sections including the Arambai Tenggols, Meitei Leepuns, the titular King Leishemba Sanajaoba, and Mr. N. Biren Singh. This stance has been corroborated by the Indian Army, including the Assam Rifles, and a few Meitei intellectuals and social activists. However, anyone speaking the truth has been labeled as anti-Meitei, and against the state. As such, any dissenting voices have been silenced for good. While neutral voices such as the Indian Army have faced FIRs and public shaming for allegedly taking sides, Meitei social activists have often been threatened or their houses vandalised. Notable figures whose homes were targeted by unruly mobs include former decorated Police Officer Thounaojam Brinda, noted human rights activist Babloo Loitongbam, and Hon'ble MP and Union Minister of S...

In the Inner Manipur constituency, the choice is between the outspoken and ethnocentric Dr. A.Bimol Akoijam and the calm-and-composed Mr. Th. Basanta Kumar, but in the Outer, it is a Naga The election campaign for the first phase ended with a high voltage Television debate between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress yesterday. The campaign was also marked by the visit of the Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah for an election campaign on Monday. However, when the Home Minister came to Manipur, he didn't utter a single word about the incident involving one of the most barbaric acts committed by the Meitei terrorists who not only brutally murdered two innocent Kuki village volunteers but also recorded videos where their bodies were dragged, severely mutilated, and dump in an undisclosed location. It is under such circumstances that the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zo-dominated districts will go for the first phase of polling tomorrow. For the Kukis, it is the hardest time in thei...

The first phase of the two-phase Lok Sabha election for Manipur is just three days away. The II-Outer Manipur will be the only parliamentary constituency in the whole country that will go for a two-phase poll on April 19 and 26. The first phase covers the whole valley districts and those hill districts inhabited predominantly by the Kukis, while the second phase will cover mostly the Naga-dominated districts. In the Outer Manipur constituency, the fact that all the four candidates belong to the Naga tribes doesn't prevent them from electioneering in their areas of influence. Whereas the election campaign in the Kuki areas is dominated by closed-door meetings with the community leaders, it is more open in the Naga areas as the current state-sponsored ethnic cleansing campaign hardly affected them. It may be noted that most of the Naga tribal bodies, including the United Naga Council (UNC), declared their support for the Naga People's Front (NPF) candidate Mr. Kachui Timoth...

The Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah, visited Manipur for an election campaign for the BJP candidate Mr. Thounaojam Basanta Kumar for the I-Inner Manipur parliamentary constituency on Monday. During his short visit, he spoke at length in Hindi, a language only a few people follow since Hindi movies and songs have been banned by Meitei terrorists [VBIGs] for decades. However, there was no mention of what happened in the Phailengmol Area on Saturday, or during the initial days of the ongoing violence. The Phailengmol Area of Saikul Sub-division in Kangpokpi district, officially inaugurated as Island sub-division in 2016, has close to 15 Kuki villages, all of which were burnt down in May last year by Meitei terrorists and mobs supported by state forces, and hence were abandoned for months. It is in this area that not only many lives were lost but the two Kuki-Zo women were paraded naked and sexually assaulted in May last year, a video of which shocked the world in July. Accordi...

There has been a series of extremely disturbing images and video footage since two Kuki village volunteers were killed in Phailengmol Area of Saikul Sub-division (now Island), Kangpokpi district, on Saturday. The Meitei terrorists had proudly circulated videos and images in which they are seen cutting the bodies of the two innocent victims as never seen in India before. They also dragged the bodies, chopped off the limbs, and even the heads, and put up the hand on a tree, probably as a sign of victory. In one such latest image which went viral on social media today, the lifeless body of one of the victims was shown lying on a dust-filled ground without hands, legs, head, and even a shirt, and a Meitei woman, possibly a member of the Meira Paibi, standing nearby supposedly pulling away cloth from the body. Even after making fun of and treating the dead bodies of the two Kuki village guards in the most barbaric manner who made the supreme sacrifices at the hands of the Meitei terrori...

The forthcoming Lok Sabha election will be held in Manipur under extraordinary circumstances due to the state-sponsored ethnic violence that plagues the state since May 3, 2023. In more than ten months, the state government has done literally nothing to diffuse the tension between the two warring communities. Even the third party, the Nagas, continue to maintain their “neutral” position with an aim to reap maximum political benefits, including this Lok Sabha election. For the Kukis, it is a test of their strength whether they will be able to survived such an ethnic cleansing pogrom, or surrender to the majoritarian state whose sole intention is to annihilate the minority communities and usurp their lands and properties. Under such circumstances, it is imperative for the minority Kukis to take extreme care in deciding whom to vote for, as their existence as a community will largely depend on the outcome of this election. So far, the intending candidates from the Kuki community have list...

It’s been more than ten months since N. Biren Singh’s government launched the state-sponsored ethnic cleansing campaign against the minority Kuki-Zo tribals on May 3, 2023. Yet, there is no respite as violence continues unabated. Even though gunfights between the two warring ethnic groups subsides a little in the last few weeks thanks to the central forces reigning-in on the Meitei terrorists including the Arambai Tenggols and the UNLF (Pambei faction) in the Valley, tension continues to simmer. However, though the ethnic war saw no sign of ending soon, election mood began to appear in some corners of Imphal. Despite various Meitei pressure groups demanding to first end the current violence before initiating process for elections, intending candidates and their workers apparently began ground work. In fact, few names have emerged in the social media as probable candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. As in the valley, the Naga areas in the hills begun to feel the wind of democr...