New Delhi:
The spokesperson of an umbrella body of 17 Kuki insurgent groups in Manipur has expressed hope in achieving separation from the state while it is under the President’s rule.
Seilen Haokip, the spokesperson of the Kuki National Organisation (KNO), also explained the nuances of the words “territorial integrity of Manipur” as mentioned in the ground rules of the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement.
“… There is no apprehension about the role of SoO and political demand being diminished in any way,” Mr Haokip said in response to a question on political unity during a ‘Space’ session on X on April 27.
“In fact, President’s rule is a time when the state government has been put on an animated suspension. And this is the time we can move forward if we are united and allow the government to take its course of action. So, this is a good time for us,” Mr Haokip said.
“Because earlier, whenever in the last two years, for instance, the government tried to initiate their commitment with the SoO groups, somehow or the other the chief minister would cause problems in some places to divert the process of SoO talks. Now, we have that out of the way,” Mr Haokip said, referring to former chief minister N Biren Singh, who belongs to the Meitei community and who the Kuki tribes hold responsible for the outbreak of ethnic hostilities.
The former chief minister has refuted the allegations. He maintains his government’s actions such as crackdown on illegal immigrants, illegal opium poppy cultivation, and forest encroachers were not aimed at any particular community.
“But, as I mentioned earlier, the problem I have encountered is more of our internal issues, namely over nomenclature or in terms of discounting SoO in ways that they think are true. On that count I have stated in numerous places, name one thing that the SoO have done that is counter to our political demands? Have we ever compromised, have we ever reneged on any of the points of commitments? No. So, I hope that response will completely dispel any notion of disunity in that respect or any kind of waning in terms of engagement,” Mr Haokip said.
Twenty-five insurgent groups of the Kuki, Zomi and Hmar tribes come under two umbrella organisations for the purpose of negotiations with India – the KNO, of which Mr Haokip is the spokesperson, and the United People’s Front (UPF) led by the Zomi Revolutionary Army. The KNO is led by the Kuki National Army.
The KNO representing 17 armed groups and the UPF representing eight armed groups signed the tripartite SoO agreement with the Centre and the state government as part of wider political talks. They had been negotiating for a territorial council, until the demand changed to complete separation from Manipur after the breakout of ethnic clashes two years ago.
The valley-dominant Meiteis are against the division of Manipur, while the Kuki tribes in southern Manipur’s hill districts and some areas in the northern parts want a separate administration or ‘Kukiland’ carved out from Manipur.
To a question for clarity on the mention of “territorial integrity of Manipur” in the SoO agreement, Mr Haokip said the issue of Manipur’s territorial integrity will no longer be applicable after the Kuki tribes get the political solution they have been seeking.
“Territorial integrity was a clause inserted by the government of Manipur at a time – if you want to categorise it – pre-3rd May, the preceding years. And at that point our demand was for a territorial council. So there is no contradiction in terms where you have territorial council and territorial integrity because TC [territorial council] was to be within Manipur,” Mr Haokip said in the ‘Space’ session on X, where he also took questions.
“It was a clause that was disliked immensely, but technically there was no contradiction because the territorial council was to be within Manipur. However, post 3rd May, things have changed, there has been a paradigm shift. The clause territorial integrity does not make any meaning to us anymore. It is irrelevant to us anymore. But technically, it is still there in the preamble of the SoO ground rules, not in the political dialogue platform,” Mr Haokip said.
There are two distinct platforms – SoO, which refers to the ground rules; there, the Constitution of India is in the first paragraph of the preamble, and secondly, the state government had inserted the territorial integrity clause, Mr Haokip said.
“Post 3rd May, until we have settlement for the SoO preamble section, that [territorial integrity clause] will remain. It will remain in the sense… Let me try to explain – post 3rd May, the assertion of the terms Lamka and Kangui has gained momentum. However, until we have a settlement, the official terms will still be Churachandpur and Kangpokpi. And that will be the same with respect to the territorial integrity clause. The day we have our settlement, automatically the territorial integrity element will be irrelevant, of no consequence, and we will have the right to officially call Lamka town Lamka, and Kangpokpi district Kangui,” Mr Haokip said.
While Meitei civil society groups have alleged SoO group insurgents of taking part in the Manipur violence under the guise of ‘village volunteers’, the Kuki tribes have pointed back at Meitei insurgents who they claimed returned from conflict-hit Myanmar to attack Kuki villages.
The first time the Manipur Police said they found evidence of SoO group and Meitei insurgents involved in the fighting was in September 2024, when they recovered five bodies in Jiribam district following a gunfight.
Three were confirmed as insurgents of the SoO signatory Kuki Liberation Army (KLA) from Churachandpur district; the fourth was a Kuki volunteer from Jiribam, and the fifth was identified as a member of the Meitei insurgent group United National Liberation Front (Pambei), or UNLF(P), which signed a ceasefire with the Centre and the state in November 2023 – the first and oldest Meitei insurgent group to sign a ceasefire.
There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes between the Meitei community and the nearly two dozen tribes under the Kuki community, including ‘Any Kuki Tribes’, have killed over 260 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.
The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.