Outer Manipur: for Kuki-Zo outreach, parties hold-off campaigning, start talks with apex tribe bodies

Multiple sources told The Hindu that the Congress’s strategy is to try and build a platform of “larger tribal solidarity” within Manipur based on a rights-based approach.

Kuki villagers looking at the images of their relatives who lost their lives in the Kuki-Meitei ethnic conflict in Kangpopi district of Manipur on Friday. The Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency will go to polls on April 19. | Photo Credit: Ritu Raj Konwar

With large sections of Outer Manipur dominated by Kuki-Zo people set to vote on April 19 along with the Inner Manipur constituency, political parties are now creating backchannels to start talks with leaders of apex tribe bodies and civil society organisations (CSOs), making their own pitch to appeal to their sensibilities. 

Amid the ongoing ethnic conflict in the State between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities, Kuki-Zo CSOs have called for their community members to refrain from contesting in the upcoming Lok Sabha election. As a result, all candidates in the fray in Outer Manipur this time are from the Naga tribes, and each candidate is trying to carefully weave a thread of solidarity with the Kuki-Zo people - a tricky task given that the Naga tribes had declared neutrality when the conflict broke out last May. 

The Congress party’s Alfred Kanngam Arthur has had a head start in this regard. The Congress’s campaign strategy for the Outer Manipur seat has so far been to start conversations with apex tribe bodies such as the Kuki Inpi Manipur and the Zomi Council, with at least one such meeting already having taken place this week in Churachandpur. 

Multiple sources told The Hindu that the Congress’s strategy is to try and build a platform of “larger tribal solidarity” within Manipur based on a rights-based approach. “Land and forest rights, and economic neglect of tribal areas are issues that are common between the two communities,” one source said. 

Cognizant of the fact that the Kuki-Zo people’s demand for a separate administration remains non-negotiable for the time-being, the Congress is also highlighting Mr. Arthur’s record in the Assembly, where he has been a fierce proponent of increased autonomy for the Autonomous District Councils of the State. 

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party’s ally on this seat - the Naga People’s Front - is finding unique ways to position its candidate - Kachui Timothy Zimik - as one who can unite the two communities based on long-standing relationships between them. One of the officials leading the NPF’s campaign in Manipur told The Hindu, “There are long-standing marital and familial relationships between the two communities. So we are reaching out to such leaders in their respective communities to reach out to the Kuki-Zo populace.”

However, both the NPF and the Congress face a tough battle getting through to the Kuki-Zo voters beyond initiating conversations with the community’s apex tribe bodies and their leadership. Mr. Zimik is yet to visit any of the Kuki-Zo villages in Churachandpur or Kangpokpi, unlike his opponent Mr. Arthur, but his team insists that plans for this “are in the pipeline”.

Furthermore, while Mr. Arthur has been meeting with the community leaders in Churachandpur, his pitch for the Outer Manipur constituency has barely made it to the voters in the district, with most having no interest in the election and rather hoping to “have peace first”. 

But for those like Lien Haokip, who was a schoolteacher in Churachandpur before the conflict began, the vote is important to let the Centre know what they feel. “I want to exercise my right to let them know how upset I am and like me there are a lot of people who will this time vote to show their displeasure rather than pick someone they like,” he said.

On the other hand, the NPF is having to defend its alliance with the BJP whenever it reaches out to the Kuki-Zo community. A leader of the party’s Manipur unit explained, “We are trying to let them know that such kind of communal tensions are neither unique to BJP’s governance nor to Manipur and that all communities must unite for peace to return.”

In Kangpokpi Assembly segment, where 61% of the valid votes in 2019 Lok Sabha election had gone to the BJP’s candidate Benjamin Mate from the Kuki-Zo community, Jangkhongam Kipgen, a 38-year-old resident, is shaving bamboos for a new room at a relief camp. “I was among those who voted for the BJP in 2019. They just talked big and now we are seeing the result of BJP’s governance in Manipur. I will never again trust the BJP or anyone associated with them. I might just boycott the vote this time,” he said. 

Apart from the contest that parts of Outer Manipur will see on April 19 between the Congress and the NPF, Independent candidates are also trying their best to reach out to the Kuki-Zo apex tribe bodies, who are welcoming all candidates to hear their ideas but are not willing to rush into any decisions.