Do Kuki diasporas play a role in the Manipur unrest ?
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TK Singh
While the present disorder in Manipur is considered to be an intra-State conflict between two communities (Meitei and Kuki) solely responded by the Home Department (Manipur) and Ministry of Home Affairs or MHA (India), the alleged involvement of foreign terrorist groups such as Kuki-Chin National Army of Bangladesh and People’s Defence Force (PDF) of Myanmar calls for an immediate intervention of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Meanwhile, the idea of the crisis limiting only to the region (India, Bangladesh and Myanmar) needs to be reviewed as the role of Kuki diaspora including Bnei Menashe or Shinlung in Israel is pertinent. Like the Kukis presently struggling for Kuki land, exiled Jews also once had a dream for homeland before the State of Israel was formed in 1948, and the Law of Return was implemented in 1950, permitting Jews to immigrate to Israel for citizenship.
The Bnei Menashe are a community from the North East India who have adopted Judaism, believing they are the descendants of the Biblical tribe of Manasseh. They have emerged from the culturally and linguistically linked Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribes, found predominantly in the hill districts of Manipur and Mizoram in India, and the Chin State of Myanmar. Earlier, they were not aware of their Jews identity but it was only in the 1950s that Judaizing movement started in Mizoram which later spread widely in 1970s in the whole Chin-Kuki-Mizo inhabited areas of the region. Reports have suggested that Kuki diasporas in Israel began to settle briefly in 1990s, even before they were officially recognised and declared as the seeds of Israel by Chief Rabbi (religious head) in 2005.
So far, about 11,000 Bnei Menashes have been identified in the whole North East India in which 4,000 have already migrated to Israel. Interestingly, the remaining 7000 Bnei Menashes are concentrated in Chura-chandpur district, main hub for Judaizing movement in the region. The district not only serve as the epicentre of the community, but is the origin of the current conflict. Number of synagogues (worshiping place like temple for Hindu or Church for Christian) are built in different areas of the district. Even at the Langol area of Imphal West where Kuki communities resided, one or two worshiping centres of Judaism are developed. Educators from Israel regularly visit Manipur (or Churachandpur) to advocate Judaism and its basic practices to the Bnei Menashies before migrating to Israel. Among thousands emigrated to Israel, some Kuki youths have joined the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) and served in the military system which is a concern for Manipur viz-a-viz the present situation.
In the current conflict about 1000 Bnei Menashe has been displaced and few synagogues have been burnt. To protect the community in the region, the Nationalist religious organisation, Shavei Israel and its Chairman Michael Freund expressed his intentions to evacuate them from the conflict zones. He explained the unrest as the gravest crises the Bnei Menashe in India have ever met (Jerusalem Post, 17 June 2023).
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports which otherwise need further (official) investigation suggested that three days after the beginning of the present crisis, some Israeli citizens were seen travelling to Imphal via Kolkata on 6 May 2023. They were observed by spectators who boarded together in the same aircraft (IndiGo). Enquiring about their stay and accommodation from some of the hotels in Imphal, it was informed that they were staying at the Imphal Hotel and checked out after a few days. While Bnei Menashe’s direct involvement in the present crisis is still hypothetical, and as some of them are already serving in the IDF there is a likelihood that these trained forces in the name of Kuki Nationalism, can provide not only moral support but also strategic assistance to the Kuki aggressors operating in Bangladesh, Myanmar and India. They might share battle tactics (persistent offensive strike as witnessed in the current conflict), intelligence gathering (by using Pegasus like Israeli spyware), cyber warfare (dis/mis-information or social media campaign), provide physical or online training on use of sophisticated weaponries, etc.
The recent exposition of a sensitive list of Meitei Army officials by Kuki assailants was not only a breach to India’s National security but a revelation of Kuki hackers’ potential to steal or attack sensitive information (from highly secured data banks) of Indian Army by using advance Artificial Intelligence applications. Military gadgets and weaponries such as communication device, drones, night vision binoculars, sniper rifles used by the Kuki militants in the conflict need investigations (from the confiscated ones) if they are even marked with “Made in Israel” importing through Chittagong Hill Tract (Bangladesh) or Chin State and Saigang Division (Myanmar). Coordinated attacks, battle formation, and area domination tactics orchestrated by the militants indicate that they are possibly operating under a single command with military doctrine designed by elite war strategists. The current nature of Kuki’s warfare could not be an art of those defunctcadres who are under suspension of operation (SoO) and relaxed from military exercise for the last 15 years, since 2008 where SoO was formally implemented.
While the Chin-Kuki foreign terrorist (Bangladesh and Myanmar based) involvement in the current crisis is already exposed, linkage of their diasporas in Israel (or elsewhere) needs deeper investigation as observers suspect. State authorities should not only focus on elements in Bangladesh and Myanmar, but also examine the roles played by the Chin-Kuki diasporas across the globe. If any unlawful support or military contribution made by diasporas to malign the integrity of the State is discovered, the MoD and MEA should be apprised for early assessments.
Meanwhile, the State force and the MHA enforcement agencies solely handling the crisis when the armed militants are foreign based (foreign terrorist such as KNA or PDF) is unconstitutional.
The MoD and its forces that are responsible protecting the country from external threats (or foreign based atrocities) should immediately intervene and conduct “Operation All Clear” in the affected areas. However, no operation can be manifested unless the SoO between the MHA and Kuki militants is withdrawn.
Therefore, KNA and Kuki National Organisation (KNO) should be declared as foreign terrorist organisations first, as they function in different countries including Bangladesh, Myanmar and India. In fact, India does not make agreements with “foreign terrorist” outfit such as Pakistani origin Lashker-e- Taiba (LeT) or Bangladeshi based Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B). Likewise, India cannot not have ceasefire pact with KNA or KNO which is not a homegrown outfit, but an amalgamation of external armed elements that act like a pan regional organisation (like ISIS or Al-Qaeda). Manipur has now become a safe haven for these foreign armed groups and the present conflict is likely to persist unless they are kept off from the Kuki dominated areas of Manipur.
While the present disorder in Manipur is considered to be an intra-State conflict between two communities (Meitei and Kuki) solely responded by the Home Department (Manipur) and Ministry of Home Affairs or MHA (India), the alleged involvement of foreign terrorist groups such as Kuki-Chin National Army of Bangladesh and People’s Defence Force (PDF) of Myanmar calls for an immediate intervention of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Meanwhile, the idea of the crisis limiting only to the region (India, Bangladesh and Myanmar) needs to be reviewed as the role of Kuki diaspora including Bnei Menashe or Shinlung in Israel is pertinent. Like the Kukis presently struggling for Kuki land, exiled Jews also once had a dream for homeland before the State of Israel was formed in 1948, and the Law of Return was implemented in 1950, permitting Jews to immigrate to Israel for citizenship.
The Bnei Menashe are a community from the North East India who have adopted Judaism, believing they are the descendants of the Biblical tribe of Manasseh. They have emerged from the culturally and linguistically linked Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribes, found predominantly in the hill districts of Manipur and Mizoram in India, and the Chin State of Myanmar. Earlier, they were not aware of their Jews identity but it was only in the 1950s that Judaizing movement started in Mizoram which later spread widely in 1970s in the whole Chin-Kuki-Mizo inhabited areas of the region. Reports have suggested that Kuki diasporas in Israel began to settle briefly in 1990s, even before they were officially recognised and declared as the seeds of Israel by Chief Rabbi (religious head) in 2005.
So far, about 11,000 Bnei Menashes have been identified in the whole North East India in which 4,000 have already migrated to Israel. Interestingly, the remaining 7000 Bnei Menashes are concentrated in Chura-chandpur district, main hub for Judaizing movement in the region. The district not only serve as the epicentre of the community, but is the origin of the current conflict. Number of synagogues (worshiping place like temple for Hindu or Church for Christian) are built in different areas of the district. Even at the Langol area of Imphal West where Kuki communities resided, one or two worshiping centres of Judaism are developed. Educators from Israel regularly visit Manipur (or Churachandpur) to advocate Judaism and its basic practices to the Bnei Menashies before migrating to Israel. Among thousands emigrated to Israel, some Kuki youths have joined the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) and served in the military system which is a concern for Manipur viz-a-viz the present situation.
In the current conflict about 1000 Bnei Menashe has been displaced and few synagogues have been burnt. To protect the community in the region, the Nationalist religious organisation, Shavei Israel and its Chairman Michael Freund expressed his intentions to evacuate them from the conflict zones. He explained the unrest as the gravest crises the Bnei Menashe in India have ever met (Jerusalem Post, 17 June 2023).
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports which otherwise need further (official) investigation suggested that three days after the beginning of the present crisis, some Israeli citizens were seen travelling to Imphal via Kolkata on 6 May 2023. They were observed by spectators who boarded together in the same aircraft (IndiGo). Enquiring about their stay and accommodation from some of the hotels in Imphal, it was informed that they were staying at the Imphal Hotel and checked out after a few days. While Bnei Menashe’s direct involvement in the present crisis is still hypothetical, and as some of them are already serving in the IDF there is a likelihood that these trained forces in the name of Kuki Nationalism, can provide not only moral support but also strategic assistance to the Kuki aggressors operating in Bangladesh, Myanmar and India. They might share battle tactics (persistent offensive strike as witnessed in the current conflict), intelligence gathering (by using Pegasus like Israeli spyware), cyber warfare (dis/mis-information or social media campaign), provide physical or online training on use of sophisticated weaponries, etc.
The recent exposition of a sensitive list of Meitei Army officials by Kuki assailants was not only a breach to India’s National security but a revelation of Kuki hackers’ potential to steal or attack sensitive information (from highly secured data banks) of Indian Army by using advance Artificial Intelligence applications. Military gadgets and weaponries such as communication device, drones, night vision binoculars, sniper rifles used by the Kuki militants in the conflict need investigations (from the confiscated ones) if they are even marked with “Made in Israel” importing through Chittagong Hill Tract (Bangladesh) or Chin State and Saigang Division (Myanmar). Coordinated attacks, battle formation, and area domination tactics orchestrated by the militants indicate that they are possibly operating under a single command with military doctrine designed by elite war strategists. The current nature of Kuki’s warfare could not be an art of those defunctcadres who are under suspension of operation (SoO) and relaxed from military exercise for the last 15 years, since 2008 where SoO was formally implemented.
While the Chin-Kuki foreign terrorist (Bangladesh and Myanmar based) involvement in the current crisis is already exposed, linkage of their diasporas in Israel (or elsewhere) needs deeper investigation as observers suspect. State authorities should not only focus on elements in Bangladesh and Myanmar, but also examine the roles played by the Chin-Kuki diasporas across the globe. If any unlawful support or military contribution made by diasporas to malign the integrity of the State is discovered, the MoD and MEA should be apprised for early assessments.
Meanwhile, the State force and the MHA enforcement agencies solely handling the crisis when the armed militants are foreign based (foreign terrorist such as KNA or PDF) is unconstitutional.
The MoD and its forces that are responsible protecting the country from external threats (or foreign based atrocities) should immediately intervene and conduct “Operation All Clear” in the affected areas. However, no operation can be manifested unless the SoO between the MHA and Kuki militants is withdrawn.
Therefore, KNA and Kuki National Organisation (KNO) should be declared as foreign terrorist organisations first, as they function in different countries including Bangladesh, Myanmar and India. In fact, India does not make agreements with “foreign terrorist” outfit such as Pakistani origin Lashker-e- Taiba (LeT) or Bangladeshi based Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B). Likewise, India cannot not have ceasefire pact with KNA or KNO which is not a homegrown outfit, but an amalgamation of external armed elements that act like a pan regional organisation (like ISIS or Al-Qaeda). Manipur has now become a safe haven for these foreign armed groups and the present conflict is likely to persist unless they are kept off from the Kuki dominated areas of Manipur.