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.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.
Source: indianexpress
