JTC delivers a point with memo to Modi Of non-stop incursion
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Unchecked immigration, large scale mushrooming of new settlements, well armed groups protecting/encouraging the new settlements, heavy illegal taxation on commercial vehicles plying on the National Highways. These are the points highlighted by the Joint Tribal Council in a memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and falls perfectly in line with the growing call to effect the National Register of Citizens in the State of Manipur. Along this line, the JTC also pointed out to the growing number of MLAs representing the Kuki-Chin-Zo communities down the decades, with the number shooting up from one MLA in 1952-57, one in 1957-62, one in 1962-67, six in 1972-73, eight in 1974-79 to nine in 1980-85. And now the number of Kuki-Chin-Zo MLAs stands at 10. The number of the MLAs was worked vis-a-vis the Naga MLAs and this corresponds to the sharp spike in the population of Kuki-Chin-Zo population in Manipur down the decades. From 79,919 in 1951 to 4,48,214 in 2011, a jump of 460.7 percent growth in six decades, is another point delivered by the JTC in the memorandum to the Prime Minister and this falls perfectly in line with what a certain Mr Paolienlal Haokip had written back in 2002 in a submission to a publication of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies. In the said article Mr Haokip had drawn the attention of the Government of India to the plight of who he calls ‘refugees’ who had fled Myanmar and entered Manipur and the other North Eastern States, dating back to 1967, when 20,000 Kukis sought refuge in Manipur during the Burmanisation campaign of Ne Win in the neighbouring country. Likewise a good number of refugees also entered the other North Eastern States, mainly Nagaland and Mizoram. This was not all for during the pro-democracy uprising in Myanmar in 1988, a good number of refugees also entered Manipur. In the course of time, many of those who entered Manipur and the other North Eastern States, took to the drug trade wrote Haokip, and judging by the present reality and the incoming reports of poppy fields being razed to the ground, the drug trade is still the preferred mode for many. The only thing is, just like the villages which have been provided protection by the armed groups, as pointed out by the JTC, the huge possibility of the poppy cultivation having come under the protective umbrella of the armed groups cannot be brushed aside. And it is against this reality that Delhi went ahead and renewed the SoO pact with the Kuki-Zo outfits, more than indicating that the memorandum of the JTC may just remain another representation submitted to the Centre.
Human incursion from across the border is a real thing and to truly understand its impact one will have to look at the years before the military coup in Myanmar in 2021 and the subsequent armed uprising against the military junta. The 1967 instance during the Burmanisation programme of Ne Win is but just one case, for the gradual incursion from across the border can be directly co-related to the increasing population of the Kuki-Chin-Zo people, as pointed out by the JTC as well as in the increasing number of MLAs belonging to the said communities. That the said JTC as well as a young Naga researcher, whose writings have already been published in this newspaper have pointed out, the first people to be directly affected by the unchecked incursion from across the border have been the Nagas, who mostly live in the hills. This is where one would need to take another long, hard look at the vociferous opposition to the decision to fence the Indo-Myanmar border as well as put in more regulations to the Free Movement Regime. If the current trend continues, then the possibility of the 20 Assembly seats reserved for the tribals of Manipur being totally dominated by the non-Nagas cannot be written off. A point which should not be forgotten. Any individual with a modicum of intelligence will understand the reality and it is this reality which will impact on the future of the people. And the future should not be allowed to be jeopardised just because some folks refuse to acknowledge the present reality.
Human incursion from across the border is a real thing and to truly understand its impact one will have to look at the years before the military coup in Myanmar in 2021 and the subsequent armed uprising against the military junta. The 1967 instance during the Burmanisation programme of Ne Win is but just one case, for the gradual incursion from across the border can be directly co-related to the increasing population of the Kuki-Chin-Zo people, as pointed out by the JTC as well as in the increasing number of MLAs belonging to the said communities. That the said JTC as well as a young Naga researcher, whose writings have already been published in this newspaper have pointed out, the first people to be directly affected by the unchecked incursion from across the border have been the Nagas, who mostly live in the hills. This is where one would need to take another long, hard look at the vociferous opposition to the decision to fence the Indo-Myanmar border as well as put in more regulations to the Free Movement Regime. If the current trend continues, then the possibility of the 20 Assembly seats reserved for the tribals of Manipur being totally dominated by the non-Nagas cannot be written off. A point which should not be forgotten. Any individual with a modicum of intelligence will understand the reality and it is this reality which will impact on the future of the people. And the future should not be allowed to be jeopardised just because some folks refuse to acknowledge the present reality.