Kukis Defend Their Last Bastion: Democracy Under Threat as Education Faces Ongoing Assualt

They go to bed with empty stomachs, till the land in the scorching temperature and freezing winter, rain is not an excuse for them either - with half-full stomachs, but they work and work just so their children get an education they can’t afford. The gruesome and difficult lives of at least 80% Kuki parents can be summed up with these few lines.

As children, the advice the Kuki children got the most from their parents is “Lekha ha sim a nasim ding nalet teng officer nahiding katehset phatle nop tah a nei koi ding chu o” a translation of which is “you must study hard while I am strong and can afford your education to become an officer and you must let me live a life without worries (of food and a home to sleep) when I get old.” Most Kuki children will have memories of being whipped by a stick at least twice or thrice by their parents either because they were too lazy to go to school or to study, for they believe education is the only way their children can alleviate their social status and financial status and they should lead a better life than they do.

Since the 1980’s and 1990’s, as the exposure to education among Kuki younger parents then increases, believing education can change the future of their children which they can’t afford, they shed blood, tears and sweat and be a slave if necessary, to ensure that they provided their children an education they couldn’t afford, although the level they could provide was incomparable to those in big towns and cities. The tradition that they started is further continued by their children to their grand-children. Today, you might

see a number of flying colours from members of the Kuki society in UPSC or CGL or under state services, the hidden secret is the faith and belief of their parents in Education, and they ensure the efforts necessary to become one is given by their children. 12th Fail movie which is an inspirational movie for many today is the lives of many Kukis yesterday and today as well.

The arson of schools in Moreh by Manipur police commandos and the exodus of thousands from their homes both in Imphal and Kuki villages due to atrocities and attacks on their villages by Arambai Tenggols with the support of Manipur police and its commandos murdered the dreams and hope of not only thousands of children but of their parents as well. Kukis in Imphal are victims too but the more vulnerable victims are those in villages. The pogrom executed while parents tilled their lands for food and fees of their children and the innocent children while they are busy playing with their friends has vanquished everything for them along with their hopes and dreams. The right to Education under Article 21A burned along as well.

The attacks on educational institution is rather cruel and inhumane. What wrongs have the children done to be punished? Why, when every child has the right to dream, why are their dreams cut off? What offences have they done to be subjected to such cruelty?

Are the perpetrators even human? And what is the law enforcement agency who despite the evidence letting them still free? India has to a lot to reflect on the issue. Acknowledging the importance of educational institutions and facilities, they are protected under International humanitarian law and International Human Rights law, as civilian objects and right to education respectively even in times of war. Attacks on educational buildings that are not military objectives are on the list of war crimes of ‘the Rome statute of the international court’ during both international and internal armed conflicts.

The institutions of police are equated with law and order. What if you witness members of this institution itself committing atrocities against you, your family and your villages? Will you still put your faith in the law and order of the state and the government? One might be poor but ain’t fool enough to realize whom the police work for. To add on the tragedy, not only your home, peace, hope and dreams are shattered and burnt, but the door to justice itself is blocked for the Kukis. To rub salt on their wounds, the central government itself listens more to the government that causes their misery than your injustice. A powerful man’s lie is weighted more than thousands of the poor victims.

The judiciary surrendered itself to a mob, and judgements in Manipur are pronounced taking into account the likes and dislikes of Meitei mobs who are controlled by state sponsored militia Arambai Tenggol. When needed, for their safety the judiciary even has to unsee the crimes committed at their doorstep. The surrender of MLAs and MPs from  the  state could not surprise them any longer,  as  a  first- hand victim of the  atrocities  and  the  silence  of the government, they knew long before it was officially done at Kangla Fort of their collaboration.

You might think things could not get worse than this, but hold on, amidst all the injustice they are living with, they are further defamed both by the government and their oppressor to whitewash their crimes. Born as Indian but called an illegal immigrant, worked honestly under the extreme weather all round year but called poppy planters, the crime by a few others are made theirs too, innocently they were living worrying about only food, clothes and tuition fees, but made a Narco-terrorist. Thus the question that awakens them at night is what freedom were their forefathers fighting for both against the British and under Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose INA? Democracy or Oppression?

The unofficial fourth pillar of democracy in the state, the media acts as a mode of enhancing the propaganda of their oppressor to the world and the people. They are a part of the web of the pogrom to annihilate Kukis and their history in Manipur. Their tone of their language is the evidence. When questions like - with no door left to knock at, where do they go? How long can they sustain? How long they will be unheard? Will they die along with the injustice? - bothers their head non-stop. A beacon of hope in the form of a picture has surfaced. A school principal can be seen teaching a group of female students in the same place where the state police commando arsoned their dreams and hopes along with their schools in Moreh.

Thus, as always education will be their new hope to change their life. However, the question is who will provide them with education? With the ongoing discrimination of Kukis even in education by the education department in the state, will their children benefit from it like others do? When violation of Kukis’ fundamental rights and other constitution rights is then the new law of the land in Manipur as all organs of the state turns a blind eye to the crimes of their oppressor, and when the state who should be the enabler of their rights is the one who violates it, why is the central government still putting them under the government that pledges to fulfill the demands of the Taliban-like militia Arambai Tenggol whose demands not only suppress the Kukis of their right but questions the legality of their citizenship. Thus, they are back again to the question they questioned themselves over and over again is

- What freedom was their forefathers fighting for?