They have tried almost every trick in the book to carry forward their agenda. They lured wannabe historians to rewrite history and project a minor rebellion to the scale of a war against a colonial power; they tried convincing the Nagas in the name of tribal solidarity; they razed whole neighbourhoods in their dominions and play the victim when others retaliate; they attack and overrun defenceless villages and they cry foul when the villagers armed themselves to protect their villages; they raise hell when law enforcing agencies evict forest encroachers and destroy poppy fields in the name of ‘ancestral land’ which were never theirs; they destroy temples and commit sacrilege at sacred places of other communities while they seek sympathy from Christian lobbies citing anti-Christian activities and burning of churches; they manipulate sections of media struggling to resist the BJP onslaught to seek sympathy in the name of majority-minority friction; they play the victim card to the hilt by bombarding the national media and social media with concocted historical narratives and false propaganda and in the not-so-distant past, as a victim of an imagined ‘genocide’ started by the majority Meitei community; their women and children were made to wave the Indian tricolour in the streets when Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Churachandpur and Kangpokpi; their womenfolk will lay prostrate before some commander and wail ‘We need you, don’t leave us’ all night long even to the extent of pulling their trousers; they will make a big thing of a public screening of a Hindi film in Churachandpur as against the boycott of Hindi films in the valley; and they even celebrated Indian Independence Day August 15 in a public ground which ended up in a mockery of the Indian tricolour. The list is endless. They are willing to do anything to make the Indian establishment to act on their demands and ‘aspirations’.
The Kukis and their kindred had voted for BJP in the last assembly elections gifting them seven MLAs. That BJP and Kuki militants had a ’secret pact’ came out in the open with a SoO leader reminding them of the ‘loyalty’ of the Kukis. And it was indeed embarrassing for the BJP. When Amit Shah went back to New Delhi and ‘forgot’ about the demands placed by them, they began cursing him and his party even to the extent of use of expletives usually reserved for the Meiteis.
The Kukis of Kangpokpi were all smiles for the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and welcomed him ‘Kukiland’ banners, pleaded with him to propagate their cause. This time, their star MLA Paolienlal Haokip had even challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he should come to Manipur if he wants a solution and that Kukis would not go to New Delhi. He is now even advising Tipra Motha not to go to New Delhi. With regard to aspirations, it is a bit hazy.
A few days after the breakout of violence, the demand for ‘separate administration’ came into the picture alleging oppression by the Meiteis. As we said before, their political aspiration keeps on shifting with time. When Kuki militancy began with the birth of Kuki National Front (KNF) in early 90s, the demand was supposed to be a Kukiland within the framework of the Indian constitution. After a tripartite SoO agreement was signed, broad negotiations centred around regional autonomy and the sixth schedule. After May 3, 2023 the demand suddenly turned into ‘separate administration’, the broad contours of which are still a mystery.
In the June 24 rally, their political demand turned into ‘Union Territory’ again. No one knows what they might again. In the months as they went about seeking support from Mizoram politicians, they were talking about being part of the ‘Greater Mizoram’ dream. As soon as they begin to realise that the Mizos do not really want them, they were compelled to check their notes again. The other day, a KNO spokesperson Seilen Haokip told a national channel that the SoO groups were all set to sign an agreement with the Centre regarding the establishment of autonomous territorial council on May 8, 2023 when suddenly violence broke out on May 3, 2023. We wonder, what went wrong in between.
