Till date, nobody in BJP is ready to give an answer to the question as to what action the party is contemplating against certain BJP MLAs who had chosen to sign a statement demanding a separate administration for the ‘Kuki-Zo people’ with or within the state of Manipur.
Now, even the term ‘Kuki-Zo’ has become controversial as two Paite and one Hmar MLA have chosen to express their reservations or misgivings about the hyphenated identifier which was in fact coined during the course of the ethnic turmoil or to be more precise after May 3, 2023.
Our elders still refer to them broadly as ‘Khongjais’ and there are historical references to these terms. For example, if one goes about searching for references on the much-publicised Kuki Uprising or Kuki War of Independence they would have to go to ‘Khongjai Laan’ as it is known in authentic historical sources.
Again, before the term ‘Kuki’ became a common parlance ‘Thadou’ was the preferred term and the language they speak is still referred to and recognised as ‘Thadou’. All India Radio (AIR Imphal) has a program in ‘Thadou’ like other recognised tribal languages and not in Kuki.
Tribes in the south of Manipur was known as the Lushais and for the record the present state of Mizoram was a part of Assam known as Lushai Hills. The term ‘Lushai’ would be found in both Meitei chronicles and British records.
The term ‘Zo’ or ‘Zomi’ was coined by some imaginative leaders in an effort to bring together various tribes having similar origin theories and cultural traditions into a political movement of sorts.
Even ‘Paite’ was not known to many among the general population before the Kuki-Paite ethnic clashes as most of the tribes in the south are broadly known as Khongjais. Interestingly, the aspirations of the various sub-tribes or different clans by their own distinct identity became apparent in the emergence of collectives like Paite, Baite, Simte, Zou, Hmar, Gangte etc as a direct affront to Kuki hegemony led by the Haokips, Doungels and Kipgens. This is once again reflected in the ongoing ethnic unrest.
In the beginning, the unrest was mostly referred to as Meitei-Kuki clash and even the press releases acknowledged the term Kuki as a collective.
The necessity of adding ‘Zo’ began to be felt in either assertion of distinctive identities or for seeking a wider support base including their kith and kin in neighbouring Mizoram state. But then, there were two power centres among them since the beginning of the conflict.
The two power centres are Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) based in Churachandpur and Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) based at Kangpokpi and they are not always in good terms.
Kangpokpi is almost dominated by the Kukis, whereas in Churachandpur district both Kukis and Paites are almost equal in strength and areas of influence followed by other sub-tribes.
Perhaps, that must be why clashes between Kukis and Paites happen every now and then.
Again, there are still matters to be thrashed out between the fraternity. Out of the ten ‘Kuki-Zo’ MLAs who signed on the Separate Administration demand, seven were elected on the BJP ticket and two of them are ministers.
And the ministers are Nemcha Kipgen and Letpao Haokip, both Kukis. Both of them were ministers representing the fraternity in the previous regime led by Chief Minister N Biren Singh also. And still, there is none from Churachandpur district or from other tribes other than Kuki in the BJP led ministry.
The break-up among them is of course six from Kuki and four from other tribes like Paite and Hmar. Naturally, the other tribes have a grudge against the Kukis whose ministers still refuse to resign from the ‘hated’ Biren-led government and goes on functioning as ministers despite the collective statements and stance taken by them together.
(The views expressed are personal)
