"Every Kuki Will Give Their Lives To Be Free": Why Must The Kukis Get Separate Administration?

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 National Army/Kuki-Chin National Front (KNA/KNF) since the past couple of years. As of now, the armed outfit is in the initial stage of political dialogue with the Government of Bangladesh. 

Among the Kuki inhabited areas in northeast India, Manipur happens to be the most volatile state with ethnic violence or riots occurring every after two or three decades. The most notable ethnic violence was the Kuki-Naga conflict, 1993-1995. The May riot in 1993 between Meiteis and Pangals which led to the death of about 200 innocent lives was more of an ethnic cleansing pogrom initiated by the majority Meiteis against the minority Muslims (Meitei-Pangals). 

The ongoing ethnic violence is similar with the Kuki-Naga conflict as both are clashes between two ethnicities. In the same way, it is also partly similar with that of the May riot as both are ethnic cleansing campaigns against a minority community. 

However, the current ethnic violence is different from all the previous violence in that it is a well-orchestrated plan initiated by the majority community with the open support of the state government. In other words, the current violence is a state-sponsored ethnic cleansing pogrom unlike the earlier ones. 

As such, this ongoing ethnic violence changed the whole dynamics of inter-ethnic relationships between the major ethnic groups in the state like never before. One of the most significant shifts in this dynamic is the demand for Separate Administration (SA), or total separation from the Meitei community, which was not the case in the past. 

Looking back to history, the Kukis always maintained cordial relationships with the Meiteis. There are instances when the Meitei kings were given protection and Kuki soldiers accompanied the Meitei troops in the latter’s military expeditions. The last time Kuki armed volunteers helped the Meitei king was when about 200 men guarded the palace as the last king, Maharaja Bodhchandra, was pressurise to merge Manipur with India. The ultimate merger of Manipur valley in 1949 brought an end to the independence of the Manipur kingdom, and along with it, the traditional alliance between the Meitei Kings and the Kuki chiefs also came to an end. 

However, after the kingdom became part of India, the Meiteis and Kukis somehow continued to maintain the age-old ties. Until the 1950s, the Kuki National Assembly (KNA) was for equal development of the hills and the plains. Yet, the step-motherly treatment towards the hills accompanied by the rising Naga insurgency in the northern hills of Manipur opened the eyes of the Kukis. Therefore, the demand for a separate state for the Kukis came for the first time in 1957 in the form of a memorandum to the Prime Minister of India. 

Soon, the Kukis of Manipur joined the Mizo movement under Pu Laldenga led Mizo National Front (MNF). Following the signing of the Mizo Accord in 1986, the Kukis of Manipur returned home to see that the hill areas were controlled by the Naga insurgents and the valley by the Meitei insurgents. This new development compelled the Kukis to form their own armed groups in the late 1980s with an aimed to attain a separate state. However, the Kuki political movement was not as strong as that of the Nagas. 

During the Kuki-Naga clash, the Meiteis as the dominant community, did nothing to substantially minimise or end the violence. Even the state government remained a mute spectator. Instead, the then Chief Minister RK Dorendro Singh blamed the aged-old rivalries between the two tribal groups for the large-scale violence though he also admitted his government’s failure. 

In spite of all these, the Kukis continued to remain friendly thinking that all the good things they did will be reciprocated. Whenever Manipur’s territorial integrity got threatened by the Naga movement, the Kukis stood behind the Meiteis. 

Moreover, following the formation of KNO and UPF as the two umbrella organisations, and the subsequent tripartite Suspension of Operations (SOO) Agreement with the Centre and State, the Kuki armed groups came down from demanding a separate state to Territorial Council within Manipur. This was in juxtaposition with the traditional relationship the Kukis had with the Meiteis with whom they shared so many commonalities—from language to oral histories. There are stories like a Kuki becoming Meitei, as in the case of Shokhojam becoming Sougaijam, or Kuki women marrying Meitei kings. In fact, Manipuri (Meitei Lon) is one of the languages of the Kuki-Chin linguistic family. 

Since the outbreak of the current ethnic violence in May, some Meitei propagandists falsely claimed that the Kukis had borrowed words from the Meiteis. If it is so, all the Kuki-Chin linguistic tribes living in different states, or countries, wouldn’t speak the same language which is the case with them. 

The relationship between the Meiteis and Kukis began to get strain when the titular king of the Meiteis, Leishemba Sanajaoba, was pressurised to negate the Anglo-Kuki War, 1917-1919, which was later reciprocated by his partner in crime Mr. N. Biren Singh. It may be noted that, in 2016, Sanajaoba was the chief guest of the commemoration of Anglo-Kuki War, though he refused the same two years later. 

However, historical facts can’t be totally erased. Even though the majority community, including the chief minister, failed to keep their promise in according recognition of the “Anglo-Kuki War”, the Kuki leadership somehow restrained themselves from taking any harsh decision as October 17 was declared a restricted holiday in the name of “Kuki Rising."

This attitude of the Kukis was taken as their weakness and the Meiteis began to defame the whole Kuki-Zo community and vilify their histories. With this came the systematic “othering” of the community by branding them as “illegal immigrants”, poppy cultivators, and what not. Most of their forests and traditional village lands were declared as Protected Forest, Reserved Forest, Sacred Sites, Wetlands, etc. Even in Imphal, most of the colonies dominated by the Kukis were declared illegal, and many of the legal documents issued by the then state government were declared invalid. 

Slowly, the practice of pilgrimages in the hills were turned into a show of strength as armed militia groups and goons like Arambai Tenggol, Meitei Leepun, and BJYM members led by M. Barish Sharma. They began physically assaulting innocent villagers, and indulged in thievery, destruction of huts and crops, and condescension. Even then, the Kukis’ traditional values of “Khankho” (“Tlawmngaihna” in Mizo) still obligated them to be compassionate when an Aramba Tenggol team met with an accident. 

As the majority Meiteis, with the open support of the state, launched a full blown ethnic cleansing pogrom against the minority Kuki-Zo, the two now reached a point of no return. For the Kuki-Zo, it is “total separation”, and nothing else. As Pu Paolienlal Haokip tweeted, “Every Kuki will give their lives to be free from the hegemony of majoritarian politics”, but will never give up. And the blame for all these widespread deaths and destruction must lie with the radicalised Meiteis led by Biren and Sanajaoba for launching this “Manipuri National War” against the Kukis who have been friendly to them till a few years ago. May be, Biren and his cohorts must also prepare to face the wrath of the Naga’s long cherished dream of an “Alternative Arrangement” or Greater Nagalim as the Indo-Naga peace talk is said to be at its advanced stage.

[Courtesy: Thingkho le Malcha, 7th February 2024]