What Have The Meiteis Benefitted Through This Conflict?

When the Meiteis started their pogrom against Kuki-Zo on May 3, 2023, little would they have imagined that it would stretch the whole year. They have seriously underestimated the Kuki-Zo. Now that the year has lapsed and a new year has dawned, it’s time for Meiteis to asses what they have actually benefitted by declaring this war.

At the beginning of the war, the Meiteis rampaged the Kuki-Zo( henceforth Kuki) in Imphal and hounded the people like dogs. Meitei society from all hues were cheering the Arambai Tengol and Meitei Leepun as they went about venting their deep-seated envy, insecurity and misplaced apprehensions. Biren was even hailed in some corners as a legendary Meitei leader who has gone full throttle to regain Meitei’s ‘lost glory’.

However, as the war went on, the Kukis started regrouping after their initial setback when they were caught napping. Soon, Meiteis invaders were ‘Khamenloked’ and that signalled a shift in the war. If one counts the number of deaths of Meiteis in Sugnu, Kangchup, Leimakhong, Saikul, Kanggui and Lamka frontlines, Meitei casualty while attacking Kukis will triple the number of innocent Kukis killed in Imphal. Did the Meiteis expect Kukis to defend with stick and stones when their zombie like herd came attacking the Hills with automatic rifles? Was the high casualty worth the war?

For years, Kuki-Zo officers have made Imphal their home as most of the government officers were kept in Imphal by the partisan government. The investment of Kukis in Imphal might have become an eyesore for Meiteis but it also comes at the cost of development of their own hill areas. However, once this war started, the separation between the Kukis and Meiteis is now complete. Kukis are unlikely to go to Imphal any time soon. Having learnt their lessons, Kuki officers will now invest instead in the hill towns of Kanggui, Lamka, Saikul, Moreh, etc. These towns will drastically grow now whether one likes it or not. There would be a real estate boom, and business enterprises are bound to increase even as human settlement also increases. New colleges, hospitals, schools and such other institutions would grow which would turn into a blessing amidst the storm.

On the other hand, since almost 40-50 thousand Kukis have left Imphal, the impact is bound to be huge. Meitei businesses will severely be hit in the short term as they will lose many Kuki customers, not to mention the closure or affected-operations of a huge number of service-based business establishments which were staffed by Kukis. In the erstwhile Kuki-dominated areas of Imphal, the small-time Meitei pan shops might find it hard to survive. Not to forget the houses that had Kuki students as their tenants! While it wouldn’t be difficult to find replacements in the long run, the people who would eventually populate these spaces would likely be the mainland Indians who would increasingly give tough competition to the Meiteis in every sphere - especially small-scale businesses. In trying to chase out Kukis, Meiteis have cursed themselves by inadvertently inviting a far bigger leviathan!

The greatest loss for Meiteis in this conflict is that they have lost their age-old trusted ally, the Kuki, forever. Friendships and loyalties that were built brick by brick for ages is now bulldozed by Biren Singh with the full support of all Meitei societies. If one looks at history, Kukis had always been an ally of the Meiteis. Kukis are said to have aided the Meiteis during the Ava invasion. Meitei King Chandrakirti was rescued from kindred Kamhau-Suktes by Kukis. Kuki Levies were used by Meitei Rajas to do most of their dirty works of invasions and conquests. This has even resulted in Kukis making enemies which actually was not of their own bidding. For many years, the Meiteis courted the Kukis to prevent the break up of Manipur by the Naga revolutionary groups. Kukis were not opposed to the Naga movement as such but were only opposing the exclusive claims of all hills barring Churachandpur. In a sense, Meiteis were afraid to stand up to Nagas alone even as Nagas themselves didn’t have much confidence to take the Meiteis for a full scale war. Now, the Meiteis have lost the trust of the Kukis forever.

The propaganda machines have drugged the Meiteis so much that there was not even one Meitei intellectual who saw through the hate-filled narratives that were spewed against Kukis. From news reporters to politicians, from celebrities to intellectuals, it was like drowning in a deluge of lies. In fact, they all believed what their itching ears wanted to believe, and that is because they have been fed a venomous narrative for the last 7 years. Suddenly, the tribe that has helped them for ages now became refugee; there could be Anglo-Manipur War but no Anglo-Kuki War; Kuki illegal immigrants were allegedly growing and were about to take over Manipur but there is no illegal migrants among Meiteis from Cachar or Myanmar! Oh for that matter, no Nagas entered Manipur from Myanmar! In simple words, it just exposes the intellectual poverty of the Professors in Manipur University and the editors at the press rooms in Imphal.

Meitei societies have been frequenting Hebron Camp in the last few years. Similarly, Meiteis have also been hobnobbing with the Saffron brigade from Nagpur. While one can’t be sure of what transpired in those meetings, it sometimes seem like they have been hoodwinked to fight someone else’s battle. The overzealousness of the Federation of Haomee also indicates that some one else is pulling the strings far away from the valleys of Imphal. In the end, what have the Meiteis benefitted? Meitei Revolutionary groups have now done a never-before act of signing a Ceasefire with the Government of India. Manipur independence dream has sure gone to the drain. Will the silent legions of Meitei revolutionaries and the families of those who had already died for the cause ever forgive Biren and his Tenggols? Moreover, a much weakened Meitei society now stands vulnerable in an eventuality of having to face another formidable foe whose entire politics revolved around stopping the Meitei nationalism and breaking Manipur’s territorial integrity.

Another great loss for the Meiteis in this conflict is that it has killed the Meitei social fabric. A time is soon coming when there will be a civil war within Meiteis: they themselves will no longer trust their press; every new day, a new organisation is being formed and people will be at a loss as to whom to trust; the monetary demands from the ‘Who knows who’ will increase; the Kuki-Zo can even shut the highways indefinitely if the war stretches longer; the Scheduled Caste will soon refuse to send their kids to the frontlines since the sons of the affluent have mostly left for the Metros; the patience of the Pangals might not last longer; Naga integration and Zeliangrong movement will also soon rock the boat. Meiteis better prepare themselves to face the wrath of the monsters that they have created.
One sure discovery that Meiteis would have made is that the Kuki-Zo whom they underestimated actually turned out to be the only group who had the guts to stand up to them (while others are busy selling their dignity with pigs and compensations) and in a nightmare beyond their dreams, the Kukis are actually hunting them like dogs in the Hills of Kuki-Zo Gam! Having used all the State machineries, Manipur Commandos, bullet proof vehicles, helicopters, crores of developmental funds, Meiteis continue to die and Biren has made himself a laughing stock. He has actually emerged as the weakest ever Chief Minister and has turned from a hero to a zero. A time might soon come when Meiteis will demand Seperate Administration, far seperated from Kuki-Zo, and they will hang Biren that day for starting this war!