Accusation against AR going viral What is happening at Litan ?
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What is happening at Litan ? No one, specially those at Imphal, seems to know but it is disturbing to see that over 20 houses belonging to both the Tangkhuls and the Kukis have been targeted, substantially damaged and in some cases totally destroyed. The question is, how was such a situation allowed to happen ? A video shoot of some Tangkhul youths confronting troops of Assam Rifles with fingers squarely pointed at one of the personnel of having assisted the Kuki arsonists in setting fire to houses has gone viral, and while the top brass of the Assam Rifles may deny the allegation of their personnel being involved in aiding the arsonists, what stands out is the open accusation literally hurled at the face of the Assam Rifles. Things are certainly not right at all and the presence of a powerful hand behind the bravado of the Kuki arsonists is becoming more and more clear. Not a new allegation. The same allegation was raised during the bloody Naga-Kuki clash of 1992-1997 and again during the ongoing clash between the Meiteis and the Kukis. The people cannot remain blind to the politics of favouritism that has been going on for quite a long time. To even the cursory observer or those who have travelled on the Imphal-Ukhrul road for long, that is dating back from the late 70s to the present, Litan was overwhelmingly a Tangkhul village. The two villages that one comes across before reaching Litan while travelling from Imphal to Ukhrul, were just some settlements, with two or three houses. A look at the demographic composition of Litan and the villages before reaching Litan should tell a very significant story. There could be something substantial in the claim of the Tangkhul Naga Long that the Kukis were ‘allowed’ to settle at Litan and the two nearby villages and down the decades their presence has only multiplied. So much so that they are now in a position to challenge the ‘original inhabitants’ of the land, the Tangkhuls. It was with a reason why the then CAO of the NSCN (IM) Wung Tangkhul Region had issued an order on October 8, 2024 stating that Litan bazar is part and parcel of Sikibung/Sharkaphung. Whether the assertion of the NSCN (IM) CAO is correct or not is something else, but as noted earlier to anyone who has frequently travelled along the Imphal to Ukhrul line, dating back to the 1970s, Litan was identified and known as a Tangkhul village. It was only sometime later from the 1990s that Kuki women could be seen selling their wares at Litan bazar.
The Government should act soon. Deputy Chief Minister Losii Dikho did the right thing in immediately going to Litan to get a first hand account of the situation and one hopes the State Government is able to question the Assam Rifles why they have been accused of aiding the arsonists set fire to houses belonging to the Tangkhuls. Let it not just remain an allegation. Go deeper into the matter, for at the moment it is about setting fire to houses but if allowed to continue this can morph into something bigger and something more ugly. The initial report received by the press, at least in the office of The Sangai Express, was that trouble started after a fisti-cuff between two youths, a Tangkhul lad and a Kuki boy. The matter was sought to be settled via customary practices, but for reasons which are not very clear, this reportedly fell through and what has happened is a direct confrontation between the two communities. In between, key board warriors too have sprung into action, coming out with their own version of what is happening and what is about to happen. The Government would need to be on the alert against such elements, for their propensity of making things worse is known to all. Rein in the trouble makers. Question why situation took such an ugly turn. What were the security personnel doing in the initial phase of the confrontation ? Litan is not a big place and it is difficult to even think that the security personnel could not do anything substantive to control the situation.
The Government should act soon. Deputy Chief Minister Losii Dikho did the right thing in immediately going to Litan to get a first hand account of the situation and one hopes the State Government is able to question the Assam Rifles why they have been accused of aiding the arsonists set fire to houses belonging to the Tangkhuls. Let it not just remain an allegation. Go deeper into the matter, for at the moment it is about setting fire to houses but if allowed to continue this can morph into something bigger and something more ugly. The initial report received by the press, at least in the office of The Sangai Express, was that trouble started after a fisti-cuff between two youths, a Tangkhul lad and a Kuki boy. The matter was sought to be settled via customary practices, but for reasons which are not very clear, this reportedly fell through and what has happened is a direct confrontation between the two communities. In between, key board warriors too have sprung into action, coming out with their own version of what is happening and what is about to happen. The Government would need to be on the alert against such elements, for their propensity of making things worse is known to all. Rein in the trouble makers. Question why situation took such an ugly turn. What were the security personnel doing in the initial phase of the confrontation ? Litan is not a big place and it is difficult to even think that the security personnel could not do anything substantive to control the situation.