Impunity in attacking Tangkhul villages ‘Hand’ behind the aggressions
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The pattern is unmistakable. Go back to May 3, 2023. Fully armed persons taking part in the so called Tribal Solidarity March and then marching towards Torbung to pick out houses of the Meiteis and then set them on fire. This followed shortly after Meiteis were targeted at Churachandpur and then in the retaliation that followed at Imphal and the valley districts, play the victim card to the hilt, in front of the media from the mainland. Preceding the victim card that has since been played with much aplomb was the presence of foreign journalists at Chura-chandpur before May 3, 2023 and it was the story churned out to them that made its way to the floor of the European Parliament not much later. The pattern is clear. Be the aggressor, lay ancestral claim on lands and ultimately play to the press with victim stories. The same narrative continues to this day and as if this was not enough, Litan in Ukhrul district went up in flames with the Tangkhuls this time being the community at the receiving end. Even as the smoke over the burnt remains of the houses at Litan were yet to clear, came the news of the rampage unleashed at Maova village under Medziphema sub-division in Chümoukedima district of Nagaland and the clash that followed between the Angamis and the Kukis there. This was on February 13 and take a few days forward to February 23 and now comes the information of one Tangkhul farmer being abducted at gun point and then freed later at Sinakeithei. Simultaneously the Lungter hill range of Sinakeithei was set ablaze by the Kuki miscreants. Disturbing peace, going on the offensives against other communities and then playing the victim card to no end. This is the script that has been played out in all the cases mentioned above and this is where questions are being raised on from where the Kuki militants have gained so much muscle and fire power ? The very fact that this question is being raised should tell so many things, but let it be clear that the people are not fooled and the politics that is being played under the garb of a treaty is becoming more and more clear. How did the Kuki militants move around so freely with guns and gather the gumption to open fire at anyone they please, a question raised in the backdrop of the bullets that were reportedly fired at the residence of a man of Sinakeithei ? There will be no answer from the side of the Government, but to the people the answer must be clear and the answer is what is extremely disturbing.
The politics of peace and pact pushing an agenda of ‘war’ by using an entity that is more than ready to be used to pursue a political end. Clash with every community in the region, and in all the years of clashes and fights with other communities, one crucial lesson the Kuki militants seem to have learnt and mastered with aplomb is the amazing ability to let themselves be used. And these lessons have clearly been drawn from the Naga-Kuki clash from 1992 to 1997, the Kuki-Paite clash from 1997 to 1998, the clash with the Dimasas in the early part of the 2000, the Kuki-Karbi clash from 2003 to 2004, the Kuki-Meitei clash from 2023 to till now (2026) and the Kuki aggression against the Tangkhuls at Litan on February 8, the clash with the Angamis in Nagaland on February 13 and now the aggession at Sinakeithei village. And even as the Kuki-Meitei clash is ongoing, that did not stop the Kuki militants to go on the offensive against the Thadous at Assam and the brutal torture and murder of a Thadou leader, Nehkam Jamhao, in August last year. Tortured and killed, all for attending a peace meeting at Imphal earlier the same year. The pattern behind the aggression of the Kukis and their militants is unmistakable and this has been capped off by the blatant act of jeopardising the free movement from March 8 call of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in 2025. Now what happened on March 8, 2025 has been capped off by the line, ‘Cannot guarantee safe passage’ line churned out by the Kangpokpi based Committee on Tribal Unity. Yet Delhi continues to look on. One wonders why the media from mainland India has never, ever raised this question.
The politics of peace and pact pushing an agenda of ‘war’ by using an entity that is more than ready to be used to pursue a political end. Clash with every community in the region, and in all the years of clashes and fights with other communities, one crucial lesson the Kuki militants seem to have learnt and mastered with aplomb is the amazing ability to let themselves be used. And these lessons have clearly been drawn from the Naga-Kuki clash from 1992 to 1997, the Kuki-Paite clash from 1997 to 1998, the clash with the Dimasas in the early part of the 2000, the Kuki-Karbi clash from 2003 to 2004, the Kuki-Meitei clash from 2023 to till now (2026) and the Kuki aggression against the Tangkhuls at Litan on February 8, the clash with the Angamis in Nagaland on February 13 and now the aggession at Sinakeithei village. And even as the Kuki-Meitei clash is ongoing, that did not stop the Kuki militants to go on the offensive against the Thadous at Assam and the brutal torture and murder of a Thadou leader, Nehkam Jamhao, in August last year. Tortured and killed, all for attending a peace meeting at Imphal earlier the same year. The pattern behind the aggression of the Kukis and their militants is unmistakable and this has been capped off by the blatant act of jeopardising the free movement from March 8 call of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in 2025. Now what happened on March 8, 2025 has been capped off by the line, ‘Cannot guarantee safe passage’ line churned out by the Kangpokpi based Committee on Tribal Unity. Yet Delhi continues to look on. One wonders why the media from mainland India has never, ever raised this question.