Thangal Union (TU) clarifies 'Koirao tribe' as Naga tribe

Our Correspondent
Senapati, Jul 14:  Dikapa K, General Secretary, Thangal Union (TU), the apex body of the Thangal tribe, issued a press statement to make a clarification response to recent misrepresentation of “Koirao Tribe” by certain individuals and groups.
It stated that they are aware of several fabricated stories and false claims doing the round in some self-titled scholarly publications and articles linking the “Koirao Tribe,” also known as the Thangal Tribe with the Kuki Tribe of Manipur and there were reports of a memorial stone being erected somewhere by certain group with “Koirao” name inscribed on it, listing it as one of the Kuki sub-tribe of Manipur.
In this connection, the Thangal Union (TU) clarified once and for all that the link-up theory, emanating from certain quarters is totally unfounded, mischievous and untrue and any attempt to do so would be totally unacceptable to the people of the Thangal Tribe living in Manipur, the statement maintained.
The statement further said that history has established that the Thangal Tribe is one of the indigenous Naga group living in the northern part of Manipur since time immemorial being recorded by the Britishers through various names as Thangal, Meeyangkhang (W. MC. Culloch, 1859), Kolya (Dr Brown, 1873) and Khoirao (Grierson, 1903).
It mentioned that after India got independence, the tribe was again recognised and listed in the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Orders (Amendment) Act, 1956 as “Koirao” while the term “Thangal” was added as a synonym in the year 2012 with the constitution through Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Act, 2011 (SL No 2 of 2012 Order), issued by the Gazette of India, under Ministry of Law and Justice (Legislative Deptt), an Act further to amend the constitution (Scheduled Tribe) Order, 1950 to modify the list of Scheduled Tribe in the states of Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
The term “Koirao Tribe” is never applied to any other tribe or group except to the people of the Thangal Naga tribe, it maintained and added that the term is neither used by any people nor known to any group of people except the people of Thangal living in Manipur.
In the statement, the Thangal Union strongly condemned the fabricated story of the Koirao tribe to be one of the Kuki sub-tribe, which was widely circulated to mislead the ignorant people and appealed those individuals and vested groups to come to reality and not infringe upon others’ identity and culture while building their own cause.