Kangpokpi: The Konsakhul Village Authority has strongly condemned the “baseless and unfounded claims” made by the Leilon Vaiphei village in public domain. In a statement issued today, the Konsakhul Village Authority termed the claims of Leilon Vaiphei village as “misleading that has a potential to escalate communal flare up and will bring bloodshed in the region”.
The Konsakhul Village Authority said it issued this clarification today in the public interest, that Leilon Vaiphei village was a tenant of Konsakhul village. “When Shonglal Khaute, Laljakhup Cholu and Netkong Thangneng came to our village and begged for tenancy, on humanitarian ground they were allowed to settle as a tenant in our land and thereby a lease agreement was signed which still stands today between the landlord (Konsakhul) and tenant (Leilon),” the Konsakhul Village Authority also said.
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As loyalty in recognition of the landlord, Leilon Vaiphei village had been paying tax in the form of one sangbai of paddy per household in a year to Konsakhul village, it added. “In support of this, we have land lease agreement, copy of tax receipts and court order issued by PMSD (President Manipur State Darbar) of 1920, 1927, 1931 and successive magisterial court order of Mr. C Gimson, S.J. Duncan, Major Bob Khathing, Chakraborty, Maisnam Nabakumar,” the Konsakhul Village Authority also said.
The statement then said, “It is also a fact that till the 1970s, there was only one Leilon Vaiphei village but now it has exponentially increased to 21 villages in our boundary”. The Konsakhul Village Authority then asked, “Suddenly, from where all these villages sprang up abnormally within a very short period of time”.
The statement also said, “It is also a fact that we had planted more than one lakh and fifty thousand tree saplings in the catchment area of Singda river under the slogan of ‘Singda Dam Kanse’ in the last 10 years. Of which, we requested the Leilon Vaiphei village not to destroy the environment and forests and also not to pollute our only life saving Singda river as lakhs of people in the valley including Vaiphei villagers are drinking from it. Although this catchment area of Singda river is a protected zone, thousands of sandang were kept in this catchment area by Leilon Vaiphei village which eventually polluted the river by its urines, excreta and carcasses during plaques”.
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The Konsakhul Village Authority also said that it is an undeniable fact that the tourists coming to Konsakhul waterfall and some pilgrims coming from Imphal for the purpose of pilgrimage to Kounu Leirembi were stopped and harassed. “Besides, two innocent Konsakhul villagers were abducted, one JCB owned by Edal Singh of Singjamei was vandalised and one Scooty was burnt down into ashes by Leilon Vaiphei people on March 26, 2023. Subsequently, on March 28, 2023, a team of goodwill mission from Konsakhul village who came to enquire about the untoward incident happened at Leilon were brutally assaulted by the Leilon Vaiphei villagers where 20 people were severely injured, 2 persons are in serious condition and hospitalised at Raj Medicity, Imphal. All these facts and figures have been recorded in the concerned police station under the direct supervision of the Superintendent of Police, Kangpokpi district,” the Konsakhul Village Authority added.
“It is also a fact that, thugs of Leilon Vaiphei village have been involved in waylaying travellers to rob, rape, assault and kidnap people passing by the road of Leimakhong on regular basis”, alleged the Konsakhul Village Authority . “Showing scant regard for the common good, they have willfully engaged in wanton destruction of forest cover in the name of hunting, poisoned the upstream river which drains into the Singda Dam in the name of fishing, generation of revenues by poppy cultivation and logging business,” the Konsakhul Village Authority further alleged.
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The statement then said that Konsakhul villagers are very kind and generous people. On October 18, 1993, Leilon Vaiphei village tried to snatch “our land by burning down Konsakhul village into ashes but still then we forgave them”. The statement further alleged the Leilon villagers are now trying to grab “our land again in the name sandang fencing with all their baseless allegations and character assassination”.
The Konsakhul Village Authority then said that the Leilon villagers are “habitual liars and they had even shamelessly claimed that Kukis defeated the Mughal Empire and ruled India”.
“The Leilon villagers also claimed the Taj Mahal in Agra (Uttar Pradesh) was also built by the Kuki emperor. Further, they even claimed that the Kuki country stretches from Jaintia Hills to Assam, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, Sylhet (Bangladesh) and upto Manipur valley. And we all know these people will stoop to that low and to the extent they would even say that all the standing orders of the President Manipur State Darbar and the magisterial court orders issued by C. Gimson, S.J. Duncan, Major Bob Khathing, Chakraborty, Maisnam Nabakumar Singh including land lease agreement, copy of tax receipts are concocted and fake documents because it is in their DNA to distort and mislead others. Besides, they are very good in fabricating facts and history of the Manipur State,” the Konsakhul Village Authority added.
The fact of the matter is that, according to the Konsakhul Village Authority, the standing order of the President Manipur State Darbar issued by Captain Harvey under Part-I Order No.11 of August 18, 1931 clearly stated that “the Kuki shall not be issued firearms because of the savagery nature against the Nagas”. Under Part-II which reads as “declared that they shall be granted firearms on loan for protection against wild animals”. While Order No.9 in September, 1933 declared that, Kuki village having 20 households shall pay House Tax of Rs.6/- per annum”. Besides, the standing Order of President Manipur State Darbar issued by T.A. Sharp in his Order reads “Kuki in the Naga areas in Manipur are Aliens and Refugees”, the Konsakhul Village Authority also stated.
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Moreover, the standing Order of PMSD No.2 of July 23, 1941 declared that “the Kukis shall obtain prior permission from the Chief of Naga village for settlement and pay House Tax to the Naga Chief”, the Konsakhul Village Authority said. “So, there are a number of facts and historical accounts documented in the PMSD court Order and all the aforementioned documents are with us. Hence, whatever Leilon Vaiphei village wants us to do in order to prove that we are the landlord and they are the tenant, we are ready to do it. A tenant has no right to claim land ownership and also should not distort the rich history of the Manipur state according to his whims and fancy”, Konsakhul Village Authority added.
“Therefore, it is our fervent prayer to the State Government to look into the looming situation of the illegal immigrants and check the abnormal growth of villages which had popped up within a short span of time in the region”, the Konsakhul Village Authority further added.
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