KUKI INSURGENCY
1.Context
Manipur government on March 10 decided to withdraw from the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with two hill-based tribal militant groups, alleging they were “influencing agitation among forest encroachers”
The state government claimed that a protest rally organised recently, defying Section 144, was influenced by the two groups, Kuki National Army (KNA) and Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA)
2.About Kuki Insurgency
- Naga movement is the country’s longest-running insurgency, underground Kuki groups, too, have fought the Indian government for an ‘independent Kuki homeland’, spread across Manipur
- The Kuki insurgency gained momentum after ethnic clashes with the Nagas of Manipur in the early 1990s, with the Kuki arming themselves against Naga aggression
- While the two tribes have shared a hostile relationship since colonial times, things came to a head in the 1990s when the Naga-Kuki clashes took place
- Land that the Kukis claim to be their “homeland” in the Manipur hills overlaps with the imagined Naga homeland of Greater Nagaland or Nagalim
- As many as 115 Kuki men, women and children were believed to have been killed by the NSCN-IM in Tengnoupal in 1993
3.Who are 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.
- 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
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The people of Manipur are grouped into three main ethnic communities – Meiteis those inhabiting the valley and 29 major tribes in the hills dividing into two main ethno-denominations, namely Nagas and Kuki-Chins
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4.What is Suspension of Operations Pact
- There are nearly 30 Kuki insurgent groups in Manipur, of which 25 are under tripartite Suspension of Operations (SoO) with the Government of India and the state
- As many as 17 are under the umbrella group Kuki National Organisation (KNO), and eight are under the United People’s Front (UPF)
- The SoO pact was signed on August 22, 2008, with the primary objective of initiating political dialogue
- Talks are ongoing under AB Mathur, former special secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), as the interlocutor
- The Kuki outfits who were initially demanding a separate Kuki state have come down to a ‘Kukiland territorial council’, which would have financial and administrative powers independent of the Manipur Assembly and government
5. Terms of the Pact
- While the period of the Suspension of Operation agreement is one year, it is extendable according to the progress of its implementation
- To oversee the effective implementation of the SoO pact, a committee called the Joint Monitoring Group (JMG), with representatives from all the signatories, has been formed
- The important terms under the pact are that security forces, including state and central forces, are not to launch any operations, nor can the underground groups
- The signatories of UPF and KNO shall abide by the Constitution of India, the laws of the land and the territorial integrity of Manipur
- They are prohibited from committing all kinds of atrocities, extortion, among others
- The militant cadres are to be confined in designated camps identified by the Government
- Arms are deposited in a safe room under a double-locking system. The groups are given arms only to guard their camps and protect their leaders
- As a rehabilitation package, the UG(Underground) cadres living in the designated camps are given a monthly stipend of Rs 5000
- Financial assistance is also being provided to maintain the designated camps
6. What is the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement?
Over the past 27 months, Manipur has experienced extended phases of unrest and displacement, a breakdown of governance, the rise of armed groups, a Lok Sabha election, the imposition of President’s Rule, and more recently, a slow decline in violence. The following outlines five major concerns in the state and their present status.
- Resettlement of displaced persons:
Currently, more than 280 relief camps across Manipur are sheltering around 57,000 people who were forced to leave their homes, with many living there for over two years. Displacement has broadly occurred in two distinct forms. In July, the then Chief Secretary P.K. Singh introduced a three-stage resettlement programme aimed at closing down all relief camps by year-end. - Mobility within the state:
During the conflict, divisions between the valley and hill districts became sharper, preventing members of either community from moving freely in areas dominated by the other. These divides, monitored by security forces, have come to be known as “buffer zones.” While Kuki-Zo groups have agreed to permit the passage of essential supplies to the valley via highways, they continue to oppose Meitei movement across buffer zones. On the other hand, no comparable arrangement has been established to allow Kuki-Zo individuals safe access into the valley. - Inter-community dialogue:
For nearly 18 months, violent clashes between the two groups claimed over 250 lives, with the last major flare-up occurring in November 2024. Since then, the intensity of the conflict has subsided. The Ministry of Home Affairs is presently holding separate negotiations with both communities, and recently renewed the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with Kuki-Zo insurgent groups under the banners of the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and the United People’s Front (UPF). - Government formation:
Several NDA legislators from the valley and Naga regions have pressed for reinstating an elected government, citing public demand. However, the Union government has shown little interest in lifting President’s Rule, preferring to maintain the existing arrangement. - Border concerns:
The porous Indo-Myanmar border remains a contentious issue in the ongoing crisis. Meitei groups frequently allege that unchecked migration of Chin people from Myanmar—ethnically related to the Kuki-Zo—has contributed to instability. In response, the Centre has revoked the Free Movement Regime (which allowed border communities to cross up to 16 km into either country without a visa and stay for two weeks) and announced plans to fence the international border. - Suspension of Operations (SoO):
Initially signed in 2008 as a tripartite ceasefire between the Centre, the Manipur government, and insurgent groups under KNO and UPF, the SoO was meant to pave the way for political dialogue. The agreement has now been extended with revised conditions.
7.Conclusion
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.
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For Prelims: Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities, Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement, North-eastern region of India
For Mains: General Studies-II, III: Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure
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Source: indianexpress
