Litan to Ireng to Chumoukedima The common denominator
|
One common denominator that runs through all the major incidents in Manipur and in neighbouring Nagaland, since the evening of May 3, 2023, has been the term Kuki. In the days that followed May 3, 2023, Kuki as a term has been central in the stand off with the Foothills Naga Coordination Committee at Ireng Naga Village in Makhan, Kangpokpi district and K Lungwiram village adjoining Konsakhul again in Kangpokpi district. As if the ongoing stand off and clash with the Meiteis is not enough and probably to demonstrate that it can throw its weight around, the Kuki as a community has been in the thick of things against all the other communities in Manipur. Even as the offensives were launched against the Nagas at K Lungwiram village, another intense stand off erupted with the Tangkhuls at Litan village, a settlement on the Imphal-Ukhrul road, in Ukhrul district, which has so far resulted in over 50 houses being burnt and destroyed. The tension continues to run thick at Litan, with no one really knowing what the next day could bring. And even as the stand off with the Tangkhuls at Litan was on, came the disturbing news of yet another clash and stand off with the Angamis at Chumoukedima district in Nagaland. As NDTV has unveiled the Kukis at this said village were ‘allowed’ to settle after getting due permission from the Angami village and it was just as recently as 1995. This is where one is left wondering from where the Kukis came to Nagaland. Or were they there in the neighbouring State from earlier and only got the ‘permission’ to settle in 1995 ? Either way it should say something profound about the movement of the Kuki as a people. As a young girl put it up on her status on Facebook, following the incident at Nagaland, ‘Our family has settled at Shillong in Meghalaya, since the days of our grandparents. There are some families from Nagaland staying at the same place as we do. Our home is at Shillong, but never can we imagine calling any part of Meghalaya our ancestral land.’ Profound truth, coming as it has from a young girl, but then apparent that this profundity has not sunk into the consciousness of some people. Ireng village, K Lungwiram, Litan, Chumoukedima in Nagaland to the whole of Manipur and clearly the one common denominator that runs through all the places mentioned above cannot be missed. How about Churachandpur itself, the place where the May 3, 2023 violence erupted and the place which is home not only to the Kukis but also the Zo groups particularly the Paites ? How about the Thadous ? Why make enemies everywhere and why is the Government of India blind to the recent and not so recent history of ethnic clashes that have dogged the North East States ?
A look back at the distant and not so distant past should give a better picture of the reality. The Naga-Kuki clash from 1992 to 1997, the Kuki-Paite clash of 1997-1998 that killed in hundreds and displaced thousands started from Saikul in Kangpokpi then Senapati district, Kuki-Dimasa conflict of 2011 in Assam, Kuki-Karbi conflict in Karbianglong district of Assam in 2003-2004 are all incidents of the Kuki community being central to all these cases. In between the ongoing stand off with the Meiteis in Manipur, the Zeliangrong United Front has been at the forefront of raging to ground large tracts of poppy cultivation over what they claim is the ancestral land of the Zeliangrong group of people. Making things more disturbing is the growing voice of accusation against the security forces of allegedly siding with the Kukis, the latest example coming during the Litan stand off. Even back in 1992-1997, the Nagas of Manipur had raised the accusation against the security forces of siding with the Kukis and clearly something is just not right. Just the question, how is it possible for the clash and stand off at Manipur to continue for so long, that in a few months from now, it would have reached the three year mark, should tell so many things.
A look back at the distant and not so distant past should give a better picture of the reality. The Naga-Kuki clash from 1992 to 1997, the Kuki-Paite clash of 1997-1998 that killed in hundreds and displaced thousands started from Saikul in Kangpokpi then Senapati district, Kuki-Dimasa conflict of 2011 in Assam, Kuki-Karbi conflict in Karbianglong district of Assam in 2003-2004 are all incidents of the Kuki community being central to all these cases. In between the ongoing stand off with the Meiteis in Manipur, the Zeliangrong United Front has been at the forefront of raging to ground large tracts of poppy cultivation over what they claim is the ancestral land of the Zeliangrong group of people. Making things more disturbing is the growing voice of accusation against the security forces of allegedly siding with the Kukis, the latest example coming during the Litan stand off. Even back in 1992-1997, the Nagas of Manipur had raised the accusation against the security forces of siding with the Kukis and clearly something is just not right. Just the question, how is it possible for the clash and stand off at Manipur to continue for so long, that in a few months from now, it would have reached the three year mark, should tell so many things.