Kuki Black Day or Naga Black Day: The truth behind 1993-1998 conflict

Dirinamai Liangchi
SINCE THE ARRIVAL of Kukis in Manipur in the mid-19th century, the State has been embroiled in a ceaseless web of conflict and an unending struggle between the indigenous peoples and those later arrivals who sought to carve out space, identity, and legitimacy upon a land not their own. Some of the darkest chapters of Mani-pur’s history, marked by blood and betrayal, were meticulously recorded by contemporary British administrators such as Sir Johnston, Roberts Reid, and BC Allen, who bore witness to the turbulence that unfolded.
Even after India’s independence and Manipur’s integration into the Union, the storms of violence did not abate; they only evolved in scale and ferocity. Among these tragic convulsions, three conflicts stand out as grim milestones : The Kuki–Naga clash (1993–1998), the Kuki–Paite clash (1997), and the ongoing Kuki–Meitei confrontation (2023–till date). Each of these upheavals underscores a recurring truth, that Mani-pur’s soil has been stained time and again by designs to destabilize its indigenous equilibrium and to rewrite the essence of belonging.
The lesson we have learnt from these waves of violence is not the art of peaceful coexistence, but rather the grim success story of how an alien, refugees have managed to distort history through calculated fabrications and manufactured narratives. The Kukis have perfected this art of distortion to advance their political ambitions, pursuing a contrived identity and a manufactured homeland. Two of the most glaring examples of this manipulation are the so-called “Anglo-Kuki War” and the much-proclaimed “Kuki Black Day,” both of which stand as constructed myths, designed to rewrite history and to mask aggression beneath the deceptive cloak of victimhood.
To casual listeners, the noise around the so-called “Kuki Black Day” echoes as absolute truth. But truth, however suppressed, cannot remain buried forever.
The years between 1993 and 1998 remain etched in the memory of the Nagas under Kangpokpi Subdivision as a time when the very earth beneath them trembled with terror. What unfolded was not merely conflict, but a grim descent into an apocalyptic nightmare, villages engulfed in flames, families torn apart, and survival tested to its very core. Yet, on the other hand, the aggressor successfully portrayed themselves as victims, not as the party who initiated the conflict and who, with premeditated plans, sought to completely wipe out the entire Naga population from Kang-pokpi. And this is why the so-called Kuki Black Day, commemorated every September 13, is shrouded in half-truths. It did not begin as a tale of victimhood. Its roots trace back to a sinister design, an orchestrated attempt by Kuki militants to erase the Nagas under Kangpokpi Subdivision. What unfolded, however, was not the fruition of that design but its reversal, turned by fate and divine intervention, resulting in tragedy not born of aggression but of desperate com- pulsion and self-defense against months of relentless killings.
The Calm Before the Storm
January/February 1993, Assault at Kotlen: The year began in violence, when two Nagas from Makui village (R Luni and Huliangbuing) were brutally assaulted by KNF militants stationed at Kotlen village (PS Kangpokpi, IT Road).
Kidnapped and Murder of Thanamba Naga Villager in June 1993 : In June, Felix Pamai, a Central Government employee of Thanamba Naga village was abducted by Kuki National Front (KNF) militants and subsequently murdered.
Yet, the Nagas did not retaliate. They bore the pain in silence, choosing restraint over vengeance. For six long months, from March to September 1993, their patience was tested by a killing spree that knew no bounds.
August 1993 – Peace Initiative: Despite having lost lives at the hands of Kuki militants in Kang-pokpi Subdivision, the Nagas continued to believe in peace. Thus, in August 1993, an initiative was taken with the formation of the Ahangruak/Tuiyang Area Peace Committee, which sought to prevent further conflict between the Kuki and Naga communities. Members from both sides pledged solemnly never to resort to violence, vowing instead to cooperate and live as neighbors. Trusting this pact, the Nagas of Kangpokpi did not panic even as flames of violence consumed other parts of Manipur. But this trust was soon betrayed.
Betrayal and the Subsequent unprecedented Spree of Violence September 8, 1993: Kuki militants and their volunteers grew more ferocious and emboldened by the silence of the Naga people. By the first week of September, like a dark tide, thousands of Kuki volunteers, organised and armed to teeth under the banner of the Kuki National Front (KNF), descended upon Tokpa Naga village and torched the village to ashes. But no casualty.
September 9, 1993 : The horror went on to September 9, 1993. With a fury that seemed unquenchable, they unleashed destruction on Tapon Naga village and half of the village was reduced to a smoldering wasteland. One villager was injured but no casualties.
September 10, 1993 – Makui Saramjao in Flames: As if one inferno were not enough, the very next day, September 10, the storm of violence shifted toward Makui Part-4, also known as Makui Saramjao, which was set ablaze. No casualty was reported.
September 11, 1993 – The Siege of Makui Khullen: The fifth day brought with it a darkness deeper still. On Sunday, September 11, the so-called Christian Kuki volunteers, led once more by the KNF, advanced upon Makui Khullen (Makui Naga village) with a singular, chilling intent, to wipe out the village completely from the face of the earth. From dawn to dusk (5 am to 5 pm), the KNF and their volunteers unleashed their fury with unrelenting ferocity upon Makui Naga village. Yet, from the strongest youths to the frailest elders, every soul rose as one. The villagers fought not only for their homes but for the dignity of survival itself. Their very dream shattered and humiliated, the invaders fled in disgrace when their commander fell into the hands of the defenders of Makui Khullen. His corpse was later carried away by the Manipur Police for post-mortem. The fate of this fallen warrior, whether to find peace or condemnation, for perpetrating violence on the Lord’s Day, a Sunday, rests with divine judgment.
September 13, 1993: After months of enduring a reign of terror at the hands of Kuki militants (villages burned, lives lost, and trust betrayed), the Nagas of Kangpokpi finally managed to send out an SOS. Their desperate call reached the Naga Lim Guard headquarters in the east. Swiftly, a contingent led by the Commander of the Zeliangrong region was dispatched, not only to fortify the surviving villages but also to rehabilitate those already reduced to ashes by the KNF onslaught.
On their way to defend and rehabilitate the devastated Naga villages, the Naga Lim Guard encountered Kuki villagers from Joupi on that fateful day, September 13, 1993. Believing that the four Naga villages had been completely annihilated, and overcome with fury, the Naga Lim Guard carried out a tragic reprisal, in which 79 Kuki villagers from Joupi lost their lives.
September 19, 1993 – Konsaram Village Burnt: On the intervening night of October 17 (Sunday) and October 18, 1993, Kuki militants launched another brutal assault on Konsakhul village, reducing it completely to ashes. The attack occurred as the villagers were preparing for their Sunday worship, when the militants opened heavy gunfire upon the settlement. By divine intervention, a neighboring Vaiphei village tipped-off the Konsakhul villagers of the impending attack, allowing many to escape what could have been an even greater tragedy.
November 1993: Frustrated over their defeat and the failure of their evil intentions, the Kuki militants and their volunteers went on a rampage and burnt down Thanamba Naga village in November 1993.
Aftermath of September 1993–A Struggle for Survival : The inferno of September 1993 left scars deeper than ashes could cover. Several of Naga villages under Kangpokpi Subdivision had been razed, their inhabitants scattered in forests and neighboring regions, clinging to survival with little more than faith and courage. For the Nagas, the conflict was no longer a distant threat, it had entered their courtyards, desecrated their Churches, and torn apart their very fabric of existence.
It was in this crucible of suffering that the Naga Lim Guard (NLG) emerged as a bulwark of defense. The arrival of the contingent from the Naga Lim Guard not only brought relief to a terrified people but also marked a turning point. What had begun as unchecked aggression was now met with organized resistance. From the ruins of their villages, the Nagas rose with a resolve to defend themselves, their homes, and their heritage.
1994–1996-The Years of Fire and Displacement: The years from 1994-96 unfolded yet another years of unrelenting bloodshed. Not only the entire villages vanished from the map. Thanamba, Tokpa, Makui Saramjao, Makui Thebram and several others lay deserted, their inhabitants forced into prolonged displacement. Families were scattered across makeshift camps, living in conditions that mocked human dignity.
The Kukis, under the banner of the KNF and other aligned outfits, intensified their campaign of terror. Road ambushes, kid-nappings, and mass bur- nings became grimly routine. Every journey through Kangpokpi’s interior roads carried the dread of sudden death.
February 1994: R. Lungammang of Makui village was mercilessly tor- tured, his legs were smoldered, limbs were sliced multiple times, mocked at his suffering and left to death between Makui Naga village and Lasan Kuki village.
May 1994 : Teiri Thiumai of Makui Saramjao was shot dead in his paddy field.
July 31, 1994 – The Thonglang Massacre : In July, another unthinkable cruelty stained the earth with sorrow. On the lonely stretch of road between Naga Taphou and Thong-lang (Bena) village, Kuki militants ambushed a group of unarmed Naga villagers and mercilessly killed seven.
Among the victims was a young mother with her infant and a Pastor of Thonglang Akutpa village. As the shadows of death closed in, she fell to her knees, clutching at the feet of the Kuki Christian militants in desperate supplication, begging them to spare her and her child. Yet the descendants of the so-called Israelites, Christians who should have embodied compassion, showed no mercy. One of the Kuki militants instead snatched the baby from its mother’s bosom. Thus, the young mother and her child, bound by fear, by love, by that eternal, primal instinct to cling to one another, were butchered in cold blood. Their cries, silenced by brutality, still echo in the conscience of history like an unfinished prayer.
Despite having already unleashed unspeakable cruelty upon the Nagas, the Kuki militants, driven by their evil intent, remained determined to inflict maximum damage.
October 19, 1994: One of the most horrific chapters in the history of the Kuki–Naga conflict was the incident at Sinam Khul on the New Cachar Road between Noney and Imphal, where around 40 heavily armed cadres of the Kuki National Front (KNF) ambushed a passenger bus carrying 45 travelers. In an act of sheer savagery, the militants forced the bus into a deep gorge, claiming the lives of 30 Nagas, five Meiteis, and two non-Manipuris, and leaving behind a scene of horror and grief that time itself cannot erase.
September 24,1995 – Kangpokpi Torture Killing: Barely a year later, Namthiurai Makuimai of Thonglang village was again abducted by Kuki militants from Kangpokpi town. His lifeless body was later flung onto the IT Road highway, a grotesque spectacle of cruelty. His eyes were gouged out, his fingers severed, his humanity mutilated beyond recognition.
This was not merely violence; it was savagery in its rawest form. For the Nagas of Kangpokpi, the hands of the Kuki militants became instruments of relentless terror, leaving behind scars that no passage of time can erase.
October 1996 : W Kawiluning of Makui was shot dead while he was working in his field.
November 1994 : R. Namhothiubou of Makui village was shot dead.
But even amid this darkness, the Nagas clung to the flame of resilience.

(To be contd)