Witoubou Newmai
The Kukis, the Nagas and the Meiteis, even though each one seems to be displaying their machismo, continue to employ the language of insecurity with regard to the issues of their “ancestral lands.” Hence, jingoist sentiments will continue to be whipped up as long as they feel insecure.
On the prevailing Kuki-Naga tussle triggered by the inscription of “in defence of our ancestral land and freedom” in the erected stones of the “Anglo-Kuki War 1917-19", and after close observation it is noticed that there is a complete absence of even a narrow spectrum of responsible measure from any quarter. The two communities are now left to stir up the charged climate as if they are rushing to the show-down. Social media is abuzz with jibes, directing at the other.
Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and United People’s Front (UPF), the two conglomerates of Kuki armed outfits, took the issue to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, even as the Manipur Government and several organizations including the non-Naga organizations objected to the use of “in defence of our ancestral land and freedom.” The Naga organizations also sought the intervention of the Prime Minister into the situation.
“Objections do not change history. They have every right to object but objections do not change history. History is a fact that cannot be rewritten. That it was a war is a fact of history and it is 100 years old. It is documented world over. It is there in the British Library in London, for example.” These are the comments of Dr Seilen Haokip, spokesman of the KNO.
On the other hand, the Naga organizations—United Naga Council and its federating bodies, and also the All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur (ANSAM) strongly asserted that “no one can make unfounded claims in the Naga ancestral lands”. These Naga bodies also dismissed the “war” claim of the Kuki organizations. According to the Nagas, it was a “rebellion.” The Nagas alleged that the "Kuki rebellion of 1917-19 was a rebellion caused as a result of the recruitment in connection with the France Labour Corps in 1917”.
The United Committee Manipur (UCM), an influential organisation, said it is the misinterpretation of a “rebellion” as “Anglo-Kuki War.”
As the pandemonium shows no sign of letting off the steam the situation urgently demands cogent and responsible ‘opinions’, even if it is for some respite, and not those smokescreen policies of the state. We are also talking about reasoned and responsible ‘opinions’ to soothe the cankerous relational hiccups of the Meiteis, the Kukis and the Nagas in the State of Manipur.
