Meiteis' "Kill all Kukis" Slogan Amplifies Immediate Need for Normalisation of Separate Administration

The Meitei mobs’ open slogan to annihilate the whole minority Kuki community from Manipur has pushed the urgent need for the Centre government, under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to grant separate administration for the Kukis in the form of Union Territory with Legislature.

It is a propelling force for granting separate administration as the possibility of uniting the Kukis and Meiteis again is not possible anymore. With the deep divide, the two warring communities have already been totally separated geographically, ethnically, physically and emotionally.

As expected, the Meiteis today chanted “Kill and eliminate all Kukis” slogan during a mass rally to save the territorial integrity of Manipur, organised under the aegis of the Co-ordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a leading civil society organisation of the Meiteis. The COCOMI is also the Meiteis’ civil body that had declared war against the Kukis in the month of May 2023.

During the rally, the Meitei demonstrators chanted open slogans to annihilate Kukis and uproot Kukis from Manipur. How could a responsible government allow genocidal slogans or turn a blind eye? Where is the law and order in Imphal Valley? Is “Manipur Integrity” just a slogan for persecuting the minority Kuki community?

Unsatisfied with their inhumane treatment towards the Kukis, the Meitei leaders under the fascist regime of N. Biren Singh indoctrinated thousands of the Meitei youth or students just to hate or kill their fellow citizens. Is it rational to demand the Integrity of Manipur by radicalising the mob to annihilate the other ethnic groups of the state?

Let it be! The Kukis have realised that they can no longer live with someone who would like to annihilate them. They cannot possibly live together with those genocidal maniacs. As radical minds are inculcated amongst the populace of the Meiteis against the Kukis, the situation augments a necessity for granting Separate Administration from the Meiteis’ Kangleipak.

Total separate administration from the Meiteis is not only a political demand but also a necessity for survival of the Kuki people. It is the only solution for peace and normalcy to return in the strife-torn region so that the two warring communities can co-exist as good neighbours.

One should also note that “Manipur’s Integrity” is just a hollow slogan used by the Meiteis without considering the ground realities. They use it to justify the persecution of the minority Kuki community. The state-sponsored ethnic cleansing pogrom is the Meiteis’ hidden agenda to annihilate the Kukis from Manipur.

The Meiteis must realise that the whole Manipur boundary constitutes the Meitei ancestral land of Imphal valley, and the Kukis and Nagas’ ancestral land of the hills. The hill areas are the sole custody of the Kukis and Nagas, and the Meiteis have nothing to say since time immemorial. The then Meitei Kings’ authority was exclusive only in the Imphal valley or Greater Imphal - about 700 square miles only. During the British period, the State’s administration was divided into the Hills and Valley separately. History is a testament that there is a clear demarcation of the Hills and the Meiteis’ valley - Imphal.