On March 27, 2003, a peaceful rally was organized in Delhi to demand action from the central and Manipur government on the ‘forcible abduction’ of over 400 Kuki villagers in Chandel district by Myanmar-based Meitei insurgent groups – or VBIGs (Valley Based Insurgent Groups) – to Myanmar on March 13, and to bring attention to the landmine threat in the district which had claimed as many as 33 victims since 2001. A few years later on 18 December 2006, after a week-long counter insurgency operation by the Security Forces (SFs) in the Khengjoi-Dingpi area, at least 471 villagers from six villages in the Khengjoi areas who had fled to Moreh due to the counter-insurgency operation were escorted back to their respective villages by the SFs. SFs claimed to have recovered and later defused at least 71 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) during the operation.
Khengjoi-Dingpi is located in Tengnoupal district which is located in the south-east part of the State, strategically bordering Myanmar. Tengnoupal district, a largely Kuki-inhabited district was split from Chandel district in December of 2016. Attacks on the tribal population by valley-based militants in Khengjoi-Dingpi date back to 2001 and most of such attacks have remained unreported in the media. In 2001, subsequent to an encounter with the United Kuki Liberation Front (UKLF) near Aibol-Joupi Village, UNLF militants assaulted the villagers. A penalty of Rs 100,000 and Rs 50,000 were reportedly imposed on Aibol-Joupi and Hollenjang villages.
The area assumed further strategic importance for the VBIGs like the UNLF and PLA after SF operations flushed them out of the ‘liberated zones’ in the Sajik-Tampak area (also in southernmost Tengnoupal, bordering Myanmar) in 2004 and from Henglep (another Kuki dominated region) following ‘Operation Dragnet’ in early 2006. During the week-long operation against the VBIGs in Chandel in December of 2006, the UNLF militants are known to have forcibly used villagers of Molcham and Tuileng as human shields against the SFs.
While an unassuming layman might assume that the Meitei atrocities against the Kukis began on 3rd May 2023 and intensified as the days, weeks and months went on, the reality is that the atrocities have always been there. Geographically, the various tribes under the Kuki umbrella have always lived in closer proximity to the Meiteis than the Meiteis have been to the Nagas. And unlike Naga inhabited areas which are deeper into the hills and offer no enticement (or practicality) to a valley-loving community like the Meiteis, the Kukis have been in possession of fertile lands in the foothills bordering the hills, not to mention an abundance of natural forest resources within easy reach of the Imphal valley. For these two reasons and more, the Meiteis – at least the radical intelligentsia among the Meiteis if not the whole gullible, decadent bunch – have always had a covetous eye on the Kukis. The continued presence of NIA terrorist-designated VBIGs in Kuki areas points to multiple things. One, they have always wanted control of the land and their atrocities on the Kuki population was always meant to make life difficult for the Kukis (moving around even to sow seeds or gather harvest from their fields had been made dangerous due to the landmines planted by the VBIGs) and to ensure their own ability for safe movement across the border. Two, to draw attention of the SFs from the Imphal valley into the hills and invite harsh military action upon the Kuki populace with the same intention of making life difficult for them as AFSPA has been in force in the state since 1980. Three, that the VBIGs are acutely aware and fond of the Kuki inhabited Myanmar border areas to serve their own strategic cross-border interests. The VBIGs have historically always had their secret bases and training camps in Myanmar and the one over-arching ideology of all Meitei insurgent groups has been the independence of Manipur from the Union of India. On September 23, 2023, a day after arresting Moirangthem Anand Singh, a Meitei militant, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) warned of a ‘transnational conspiracy’ by the Myanmar-based leadership of Indian insurgency outfits to ‘wage war against India’ by exploiting the current ethnic unrest in Manipur. Two dissident leaders from Manipur claiming to represent King Leishemba Sanajaoba had announced the launch of the “Manipur Government in exile”, an entity independent from the Indian Union in the UK in October of 2019.
So while the valley-based Meitei media houses and CSOs may cry hoarse about Kuki illegal immigrants from across the border being a threat to local harmony and national security, it is the Meitei VBIGs based across the border who pose the actual threat. A month or so ago, four Meitei insurgents surrendered from across the border, which is quickly becoming their way of gaining safe entry in to the country since recently, there were reports that Meitei insurgents have been issued state police uniforms and ID cards and are roaming with the state police commandos. Now put two and two together and the nefarious intentions become very clear – use whatever means to ferry militants from across the border and engage them in the ongoing conflict. These border-crossing insurgents are posing a direct threat to the nation in general as pointed out by the NIA and the Kukis in particular. Their growing number in the valley signals a dangerous change in the strategy of how the Meiteis are waging this genocide on the Kuki community as seen in their shift from marauding mob raids on the buffer-zones to well-trained, small-group based secretive, strategic and systematic terror attacks. After mass ethnic-cleansing, they are now turning to their field of expertise – targeted terrorism upon the Kukis which they have been carrying out in the background over the years.
References and for further reading:
Thingkho Le Malcha (TLM) is a traditional method of communication used to send out messages across the Kuki hills during the Anglo-Kuki War,1917-1919... more
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