Of late, few national news TV channels and print newspapers seem to have been swayed by the false statements of the Meitei-led Manipur government and the misleading narratives of secessionist Meitei people since the Koutruk incident on September 1, 2024, and the Moirang incident on September 6, 2024, where the Kuki-Zo were accused of using drone bombs and rocket missiles, respectively.
In contrast to the hue and cry, the initial investigation into the Koutruk incident by the authorities— including the post-mortem and the recorded video of the procedure in the presence of an executive magistrate—shows that Ms. Surbala was unfortunately hit by a stray bullet to the head, not by alleged bomb splinters dropped by drones. Regarding the Moirang incident, it is part of an ongoing violent ethnic conflict between the two communities that has been continuing since May 3, 2023. The incident involved a retaliatory action by a Kuki-Zo village volunteer, who used an indigenously made “PUMPI,” a type of cannon, rather than a rocket or missile.
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The baseless and unfounded accusations against the Kukis made by the Government of Manipur, without any substantial evidence, are not new. Any statements issued by the state department under the leadership of the Meitei Chief Minister regarding the current conflict must be verified for authenticity. Due to the de facto separation between Kuki-Zo and Meiteis in various spheres—such as restricted access to areas, the inability of our elected representatives to attend the State Legislative Assembly, and the removal of Kuki-Zo bureaucrats from the Manipur Secretariat and Police Headquarters—we do not trust the state government.
In fact, it is the Kuki-Zo people who have faced persecution from secessionist Meitei rapists for many years; it was the Kuki-Zo’s endurance and tolerance that kept Manipur at peace until May 3, 2023.
The Meitei secessionist Valley-Based Insurgent Groups (VBIGs), particularly the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), initially operated from the Kuki Hills of Manipur during the early years of their revolutionary movement. Later, the UNLF, in blatant disregard for Kuki landowners, declared the Sajik Tampak area in Chandel District as a “UNLF Liberated Zone.” Kukis were forced to act as porters, and highly regarded Kuki chiefs were subjected to torture and exploitation.
For instance, on the night of January 16, 2006, militants belonging to the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) at Parbung and Lungthulien Hmar villages in the Tipaimukh sub division in Manipur’s Churachandpur district, armed with sophisticated weapons dragged the people of Lungthulien to a central place and beat them up mercilessly. Four hundred and two people were beaten and tortured, while 15 girls and women aged between 12 and 27 were either raped or molested.
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As the Valley-Based Insurgent Groups (VBIGs) continue their atrocities against the Kuki-Zo people in the Hills of Manipur and the Meitei secessionist revolutionary movement gains significant momentum, there have been several notable military operations. In January 2006, the Indian Army’s 57 Mountain Division, under the aegis of 3 Corps, launched an intense operation code-named “Operation Dragnet” to clear the two subdivisions in southern Manipur—Parbung and Thanlon—along NH 150 in Churachandpur district of the secessionist Meitei insurgent group stronghold.
In December 2006, the Indian Army’s 10 Jammu & Kashmir Light Infantry Battalion and the Assam Rifles conducted a vigorous offensive under the code name “Operation Khengjoi (Somtal-I)” to eliminate the presence of the UNLF in the Khengjoi-Somtal area of Chandel District.
Innocent Kuki-Zo villagers in the Dingpi area of Chandel District endured immense torture, and many were killed by Meitei militants for reasons known only to them. Until May 3, 2023, the planting of IED landmines by the UNLF in Kuki areas of Chandel District as they retreated towards Myanmar was not fully comprehended. Although these IED landmines were ostensibly planted for Indian forces, they were actually intended for Kuki villagers. Since 2001, more than 40 Kuki villagers have been killed in such landmine explosions in Khengjoi Block of Chandel District, which borders Myanmar, and many others have been maimed for life. Survivors of these incidents can testify to the acts of terrorism perpetrated by the UNLF and other VBIGs in the Kuki hills. This overlooked and unresolved issue of universally banned IED landmines must be addressed by the Government of India before any further peace dialogue with the UNLF.
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During “Operation Somtal-II,” valley-based militant outfits operating in the border areas of Chandel district have forcibly driven innocent villagers into grouping centers at their convenience, using them as human shields in counter-insurgency operations in Somtal. The militants have displaced people from Khengjoy, JM Moljol, Sijang, Old Samtal, S Bungpi, S Bongjoi, and Toitung, gathering them at Molcham, Twileng, New Somtal, Jangnomphai, and Lajang villages for use as human shields. Some villagers were taken as forced labourers, and their whereabouts remain unknown to this day. The counter-insurgency operation Somtal-II was seen as a “ray of hope” and a new “lease of life” from the Central government to the beleaguered, innocent, and indigenous Kuki-Zo people of Chandel district.
Without the presence of Central Para Military Forces and the Assam Rifles in the hill districts of Manipur, particularly in the Kuki hills, the majority Meiteis and their secessionist militant underground groups would have likely enslaved the Kuki-Zo people long ago.
Reflecting on past incidents, the atrocities and hatred towards the Kuki-Zo people by secessionist Meitei militants have reached a level of severity that surpasses tolerance, making coexistence with these militants increasingly untenable. For lasting peace, it is essential for the Kuki-Zo people to live separately as good neighbors under a distinct administrative unit, such as a Union Territory.
This is a press statement of the Kuki Inpi Manipur issued on September 13, 2024.
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