Sominthang Doungel
Contd from previous issue
(2) That he came to Imphal after the arrest of is uncle by Mr. Higgins and after being detained for a day or two was released in order that he might call in other recalcitrant chiefs, which he said he was able to and willing to but failed to induce the chiefs.
(3) That he kept up communication with other rebels for joint action against Government.
(4) That at Haijang he maintained himself by looting neighbouring villages and when a post was established at Lapvomi, he went out his way to attack it and obtained the co-operation of Toljakhup and Laljashoung.
(5) That he stockaded himself at Haijang and when ejected from there by the Lapvomi Shilloi Columns in March - April 1918, he migrated to Vahong in a “Cross hatch area” where he fortified himself and continued raiding for supplies in the neighbouring villages.
(6) That when his village at Vahong was burnt and destroyed by Lapvomi guards, he surrendered to Lieutenant Parry at Tusom.
(7) His defence was that he merely objected to sending labourers to France.
(8) The advisory committee found that Chengjapao Doungel was the first chief to organize opposition for recruitment of labour corps. He sent around the fiery cross among the Kukis and seemed to have attempted to get the Angami Nagas to join.
The committee recommended that the minimum period for which Chengjapao Doungel should be detained away from his country should be 15 years. The Committee also considered that the first year of his confinement should be spent in either Tezpur or Dibrugarh jail and thereafter, unless unforeseen complication arise, he might be kept under restriction at Sadiya or some other places in the North-East Frontier tracts.
SENTENCES OF KUKI CHIEFS IN INDIA: The Kuki chiefs C-in-C and Enjakhup Kholhou Deputy C-in-C were all first tried as war Criminals and sentences for imprisonement were passed accordingly. Some common charges aganst them were :
i) Opposition to recruiting labour corps
ii) Taking part in the armed rebellion against the British govt.
iii) Preventing the chiefs willing to surrender.
Pu Tintong Haokip and Pu Enjakhup Kholhou were charged for arming and giving training to group of people in the art of warfare. Accordingly they were sentenced to imprisonment for a number of years as given below :
Sl. No NAME OF PRISONERS PERIOD OF DETENTION
1 Pu Chengjapao Doungel, Chief of Aisan 15 yrs
2 Pu Lhukhomang Haokip, Chief of Chahsat 20 yrs
3 Pu Tintong Haokip, Chief of Laijang 20 yrs
4 Pu Pakang Haokip, Chief of Henglep 15 yrs
5 Pu Khotinthang Sitlhou, Chief of Jampi 15 yrs
6 Pu Enjakhup Kholhou, Chief of Thenjol 15 yrs
7 Pu Ngulkhup Haokip, Chief of Mombi (Lonpi) 15 yrs
8 Pu Heljason Haokip, Chief of Loibol 15 yrs
9 Pu Mangkhoon Haokip, Chief of Tingkai 15 yrs
10 Pu Leothang Haokip, Chief of Goboh 15 yrs
11 Pu Lunkholal Sitlhou, Chief of Chonjang 15 yrs
12 Pu Semchung Haokip, Chief of Ukha 15 yrs
SENTENCE OF KUKI CHIEF IN BURMA (MYANMAR)
The Kuki chiefs and leaders in Burma side were detained in Homalin jail.
They were sentenced to imprisonment for 15 years each at Taungyi Jail.
Sl.No. NAME OF PRISONERS PERIOD OF DETENTION
1 Pu Kamjahen Haokip, Chief of Phailengjang 15 yrs
2 Pu Letkhothang Haokip, Chief of Khotuh 15 yrs
3 Pu Semkholun Haokip, Chief of Phaisat 15 yrs
4 Pu Vumngul Kipgen, Chief of Tujang 15 yrs
5 Pu Haokhopao Haokip, Chief of Molvailup 15 yrs
6 Pu Tongkholun Haokip, Chief of Phailengjang 15 yrs
7 Pu Tukih Lupheng, Chief of Tonglhang 15 yrs
8 Pu Sonkhopao Haokip, Chief of Twison 15 yrs
9 Pu Letjahao Chongloi, Chief of Khomunnom 15 yrs
10 Pu Kondem Baite, Chief of Sachih 15 yrs
11 PU Jalhun Haokip, Chief of Molvom 15 yrs
THE SECOND TRIAL OF KUKI CHIEFS
After the Kuki rebellion was put down, their hegemony in Manipur hills and elsewhere was completely taken away and most of their villages ravaged. These were reported in the national press in India expressing sympathy for Kukis.
New India on 28th February, 1918 wrote that the British justified the action of their men under the union Jack in Chin Hills ( and Kuki Hills) by saying that they were carrying the work of pacification satisfactorily. But whether they realize the horror of burning villages and their terrified women and children flying from their flaming houses, such is the work of Christian civilization.
New India on 5th March 1918 again wrote, “But certainly that is no excuse for treating them in such a cruel fashion. To destroy villages on such a systematic scale and to harass people until finding no other alternative before them, they surrender to any conditions of life that may be imposed upon them … are these practices to be tolerated by a civilized nation like England? We are confident that if the story should be revealed in all its tragic inhumanity to the British nation, the real nature of the Bureaucracy will be known in a single day”
The British perhaps feared that atrocities committed by burning of Kuki villages and herding them in concentration camps where they were engaged in forced labour etc. would leak out to outside world. They have seen that the backbone of the Kukis had been broken and their spirit crushed. They thought it wiser to take political and administrative steps to contain them. It was therefore, decided that the chiefs and leaders should be retried for political offences with leniency. [Govt. of India letter 457-EB (Foreign and political) of 02/09/1919 to chief secretary to chief commissioner, Assam]
The Kuki chiefs in Burma were shifted from Homalin Jail to taungyji Jail and those in India were also imprisoned in Sodiya Jail in Assam. Later, they were all shifted to cellular jail in the Andamans.
After commutation of sentences of Kuki chiefs in Sodiya, the terms were as follows:
SL. NO. NAME OF PRISONERS PERIOD OF DETENTION
1 Pu Chengjapao Doungel, Chief of Aisan 4 yrs
2 Pu Lhukhomang Haokip, Chief of Chahsat 3 yrs
3 Pu Tintong Haokip, Chief of Laijang 3 yrs
4 Pu Pakang Haokip, Chief of Henglep 3 yrs
5 Pu Khotinthang Sitlhou, Chief of Jampi 3 yrs
6 Pu Enjakhup Kholhou, Chief of Thenjol 3 yrs
7 Pu Ngulkhup Haokip, Chief of Mombi (Lonpi) 3 yrs
8 Pu Heljason Haokip, Chief of Loibol 3 yrs
9 Pu Mangkhoon Haokip, Chief of Tingkai 3 yrs
To be contd