Kuki-Meitei relations
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Swidden farming: Kuki villages splinter and proliferate
For some time now, two parallel and provocative narratives in the portrayal of Manipur history were being pushed from certain quarters. The first and more recent is that Kukis are illegal migrants. This at best is a half-truth. This narrative is often taken advantage of by rivals to humiliate the Kukis as “refugees” etc., and it is imaginable the latent anger from this would have made Kukis ultrasensitive.
It is true that a peculiar land-holding tradition amongst Kukis, coupled with unstable subsistence swidden farming, which cannot support large populations, has meant a tendency for Kuki villages to periodically splinter and proliferate. Kuki villages are owned by chiefs who established them, not the villagers, therefore adding to this proliferation tendency, with the chief’s male children, as well as capable villagers, often parting to establish their own villages. This often brings them into conflict with their neighbours in the hills, the Nagas.
In recent times, other than social media trolls, even government authorities, using insinuation, have used this to humiliate Kukis. The sensitivity has come to be such that even normal policies such as eviction from reserved forests, or the fight against poppy plantations, have come to be seen as targeting Kukis, adding to their hurt.
Then on March 10,2023, in an arbitrary move, the state cabinet took the decision to pull out of a tripartite Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with two Kuki militant groups, KNA and ZRA, from among the 24 who had signed this agreement, again implying they were party to encroachments into forests for poppy plantations etc. Since SOO is a tripartite truce including the Union government, it is unlikely this rash decision will be okayed, but the additional hurt that the Kukis would have felt is clear.
The other party in this spell of violence, Meiteis, too have been on the receiving end of a peculiar turn of history since colonial days putting them in an unenviable corner. In 1891, after its defeat, the British banished the ruling dynasty and installed Churachand as ruler, a young prince from another dynasty. Churachand was still a minor and the British sent him off to Mayo College for education.
Churachand was crowned upon his return in 1907 but the British also brought in their tried and tested land revenue administrative mechanism from Assam whereby revenue plains were separated from the non-revenue hills by drawing an Inner Line at the base of the hills. In the same pattern, the central Imphal valley, the traditional home of Meiteis, thus came to be separated from the hills surrounding it. Again, while the plains were to be administered by the Maharaja, the hills were kept under the President of the Manipur State Durbar (PMSD), a British officer — the same way that the hills beyond the Inner Line in Assam were kept under the Governor, and not the legislature.
Amongst the administrative measures the PMSD undertook in Manipur hills was the creation of reserved forests of several uninhabited mountain stretches. These reserved forests were continued by a decision of the then Union Territory government after Manipur became part of India in 1949. The current controversy over forest encroachments has this antecedent. But the animus has since transformed into a tribal-nontribal conflict.
The Meiteis now find themselves restricted in the central valley forming 10 per cent of the land area of the state. Over 60 per cent of the state’s population lives here. The hills which form 90 per cent of the state are out of bounds for them and only 40 per cent of the population live here. The growing sense of siege amongst Meiteis has this basis. Like the Kuki being mocked, Meiteis are also often provoked by some Kuki scholars in their writings that their kingdom of old was only 700 sq miles. The reason cited for the demand for ST inclusion of Meiteis also has this insecurity of their becoming marginalised in their own home ground.
The writer is editor, Imphal Review of Arts and Politics
YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS
2024
Meitei- Hmar agreement (pact) in Jiribam…
Prabin Kalita, August 2, 2024: The Times of India
Guwahati : Facing flak for failing to bring peace in the roiled region, BJP govt in Manipur Thursday made the first breakthrough by facilitating an agreement between the conflicting Meitei and the Hmar, belonging to the KukiChin-Zo ethnic group of Jiribam district, to end hostilities and re-establish peace. Although restricted to Jiribam, govt sources described it as a big achievement towards their plans to bring back peace in the valley and hill areas of Manipur. The resolutions adopted said that “both sides will make full efforts to bring normalcy and prevent incidents of arson and firing.” “The signing of the agree- ment, though confined to one district now, marks the first step towards resolving the ongoing conflict between the two communities,” an official said.
Meitei, Kuki groups to meet again after Aug 15
The agreement said both sides would cooperate with all the security forces operating in Jiribam and agreed to facilitate controlled and coordinated movement. The two sides will meet again after Aug15, the meeting decided.
Hours earlier, Manipur CM Biren Singh informed the state assembly that govt is working hard towards peace talks and several discussions have taken place in Assam’s Silchar, bordering Jiribam district.
The reconciliation meeting was held at a CRPF group centre at Dayapur near Silchar in Assam’s Cachar district on Thursday morning, which was moderated by Jiribam district administration.
The meeting was held between representatives of the Meitei and Hmar communities of Jiribam district. Representatives of other tribal communities — Paite, Thadou and Mizo of Jiribam district — also attended.
Jiribam district remained largely unaffected by the large-scale violence since May 3 last year until June 6 this year, when a 59-year-old Meitei farmer, Soibam Saratkumar Singh, went missing.
Last month, a CRPF jawan was killed and three other security personnel injured when suspected militants ambushed a joint patrol party with the state police in Jiribam district
… lasts two days
Prabin Kalita, Aug 4, 2024: The Times of India
Guwahati : Hmar Inpui, the top association representing Hmar tribe of Kuki-Chin-Zo ethnic group, declared a peace agreement brokered two day ago between Meiteis and tribal group in Manipur’s Jiribam as “null and void”, saying it was signed “without our prior, informed consent”.
Jiribam has a multi-ethnic demography and remained untouched until this summer by the sectarian strife in Manipur. However, conflict engulfed the district bordering Assam following the alleged killing of a 59-year-old man by unidentified people, which led to retaliatory burning of houses belonging to both Meitei and Kuki communities on June 6 this year. Many residents fled and took refuge in Assam because of the flare-up.
On Aug 1, a reconciliation meeting moderated by district authorities and held at Dayapur near Silchar was held to foster cooperation between Meiteis and Hmars of Jiribam. The meeting led to an agreement to prevent arson and firing, and to facilitate controlled and coordinated movement in the district, with plans for a follow-up meeting after Aug 15.
Manipur govt described the agreement as a step toward peace in the state. However, Hmar Inpui rejected the agreement. “Hmar Inpui believes any peace effort ought to have a firm foundation in respect and dignity of every human being. Hmar Inpui stands resolute against the divisive communal game of Biren Singh-led govt,” the association said.
