Kuki
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Who are the Kukis?
Diksha Munjal, March 2, 2022: The Hindu
Who are the Kukis?
The Kukis are an ethnic group including multiple tribes originally inhabiting the North-Eastern states of India such as Manipur, Mizoram and Assam; parts of Burma (now Myanmar), and Sylhet district and Chittagong hill tracts of Bangladesh. While Kuki is not a term coined by the ethnic group itself, the tribes associated with it came to be generically called Kuki under colonial rule.
In Manipur, the various Kuki tribes, living mainly in the hills, currently make up 30% of the total 28.5 lakh population of the State. While Churachandpur is their main stronghold, they also have a sizable population in Chandel, Kangpokpi, Tengnoupal and Senapati districts.
The rest of the population of Manipur is made up mainly of two other ethnic groups — the Meiteis or non-tribal, Vaishnavite Hindus who live in the valley region of Manipur, and the Naga tribes, historically at loggerheads with the Kukis, also living in the hilly areas of the State. Of the 60 seats in the Manipur Assembly, 40 are held by Meiteis and the rest 20 seats are held by Kukis and Nagas. Both the BJP and Congress are fielding Kuki and Naga candidates this time.
What led to the Kuki insurgencies in Manipur?
The Kuki insurgent groups have been under Suspension of Operation (SoO) since 2005, when they signed an agreement for the same with the Indian Army. Later, in 2008, the groups entered a tripartite agreement with the State government of Manipur and the UPA led Central government under former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to temporarily suspend their operations and give political dialogue a chance. Manipur, formerly a princely state including parts of Burma, made the accession into India after Independence, but was only made a full-fledged State in 1972. The resentment over the “forceful” inclusion into India and delay in granting statehood led to the rise of various insurgent movements. The problem was intensified after Manipur was declared a ‘distubed area’ in 1980, under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which gives sweeping powers to the military and has led to excesses. Post-independence insurgent movements in Manipur, carried out by valley-based groups or Meiteis, can be traced back to around the 1960s, when various groups demanded self-determination and separate statehood for Manipur, inspired by left ideology.
However, this wasn’t the case with the Kuki insurgency. The roots of Kuki militancy lie in conflicts of ethnic identity. First was the demand for self-determination solely for groups belonging to their ethnic fabric, meaning the dream to form a Kukiland which includes Kuki inhabited regions of Myanmar, Manipur, Assam and Mizoram. The second reason for insurgency lies in the inter-community conflicts between the Kukis and the Nagas in Manipur.
While organisations like Kuki Inpi and Kuki National Assembly had already formed in the years following Independence, insurgent activity at the time was jointly carried out by Kuki outfits based in Myanmar and Mizoram for Kukiland. But the Kuki insurgency in Manipur grew in real terms in the 1980s and after the Kuki-Naga conflicts of the 1990s. This is when the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and its armed wing Kuki National Army (KNA) were formed.
The community could not shed internal differences between tribes and take a single line of action. While some militant Kuki outfits demanded Kukiland, including parts which are not in India, some demanded Kukiland within India. At present, the demand has come to the formulation of an independent district—Kukiland Territorial Council within the purview of the Indian constitution, modelling the Bodoland Territorial Council, which was formed under the sixth schedule of the Constitution, after insurgent groups in Assam signed an agreement with their State government.
The Kuki-Naga conflict was started over securing identity and land as some Kuki inhabited areas coincided with Naga inhabited areas. Wanting to dominate trade and cultural activities in those areas the two communities often engaged in violent standoffs, with villages being torched, civilians killed and so on. Even though clashes have reduced in recent decades, tensions between the two ethnic groups still exist.
Where do the Kukis stand today?
The temporary SoO agreements were made in order to start political dialogue about giving some form of self-determination to the Kukis, but that has not happened, both under the UPA or NDA governments.
The SoO has been extended by the Government almost every year since 2008, with Kuki outfits threatening to breach the agreement by taking up arms again and boycotting the Government. In 2012, the groups held a nearly eight month long blockade of highways around their area, costing the Government a couple of crores in losses each day. The SoO agreement was last extended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in September last year till February 28 this year. Both BJP and Congress governments have held talks with the representatives of Kuki groups but the Kukis are dissatisfied with the pace of the dialogue and also feel ignored, as the Government has been holding Naga Peace Talks with the main Naga insurgent outfit NSCN (IM), which demands the formation of Greater Nagaland, including parts of Manipur having Kuki inhabited regions.
It has to be seen how the BJP plans to resolve the insurgency and settle Kuki political aspirations as the more than 50% Meitei population of the State, a significant voter base, has always been against Kuki and Naga demands for self-determination, as they fear it would undermine Manipur’s territorial integrity.
The Diaspora
Israel, 2023
Prabin Kalita, Oct 18, 2023: The Times of India
GUWAHATI: More than 200 Kukis are ready for combat, their community is praying for them, they are part of a force tasked with responding to appalling acts of violence perpetrated by armed groups - and this is happening in…Israel.
Lost in the blizzard of news in the global media on Israel's military response to Hamas is the story of Kukis who serve in the Israel Defence Force (IDF).
The 206 Kukis, part of the 3,60,000 reservists Israel has mobilised, have roots in Manipur and Mizoram. These Kukis, and around 5,000 members of this community, are in Israel because they emigrated under the country's open-door policy to members of what Tel Aviv recognises as a 'lost Jewish tribe'.
And as it happens, this small community was in the direct line of fire when Hamas terrorists entered Israel. Most of the Kukis live in Sderot, a town close to Gaza, and which encountered some of the worst violence. There were no casualties, but one family's house was burnt down.
Bnei Menashe, the Hebrew name for this community, translates to children of Manasseh. Per Shavei Israel, an NGO that helps "lost tribe" Jewish communities emigrate to Israel, Menashe was the first son of Joseph, revered in Jewish faith as the first prophet.
As Shavei Israel tells the story, the Bnei Menashe claim descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, who were sent into exile by the Assyrian Empire more than 27 centuries ago and "their ancestors wandered through Central Asia and the Far East for centuries, before settling in what is now northeastern India, along the border with Burma (Myanmar) and Bangladesh".
The chairman of Bnei Menashe Council, India, Lalam Hangshing, told TOI that there are around 5,000 of his community in India, 4,000 in Manipur and 1,000 in Mizoram. The Manipur ethnic violence has displaced many Kukis of this community, Hangshing said.
These Kukis' emigration to Israel has happened slowly, 5,000 have made the journey over 30 years, Hangshing said. But they have integrated well. "Dozens of our boys are regular soldiers in IDF," he said. "The exact number is not put out by Israeli armed forces."
"A few days back I received a list of 206 boys from our community who have been called for duty, joining those who are already in the IDF," Hangshing said. He makes it a point to add, "many of the boys in IDF have received commendations".
Back in Manipur, Kukis who trace their roots to Israeli tribes suffered as much as others of the community. Hangshing and his family had to move to Delhi. Two synagogues in Imphal were burnt down just as violence erupted in early May.
In Israel, says Hangshing, the Kukis are ready for battle. An earlier Facebook post from Shavei Israel had said, "There are 188 members of the Bnei Menashe who love their country (Israel) and will do whatever it takes to protect her." TOI could not independently establish if there are any overlaps between this list and Hangshing's list of 206 IDF Kuki reservists.
In Aizawl, there have been prayer meetings for those killed in Israel and for IDF. "We are proud of our boys", Hangshing said. Perhaps, no one in India will track IDF's promised land offensive in Gaza more closely than the tiny community he speaks for.
