An apex body of the Kukis, one of the three major ethnic groups of Manipur, has asked the Centre to weigh the “acts of genocide” against the community by the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, or NSCN (IM), before sealing the final peace deal with it.
Leaders of the NSCN (IM) have been engaged in a fresh round of talks with the Centre in New Delhi for settling the Naga peace process hanging fire since 1997.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi less than a week ago, the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) reminded the Centre of the genocide against the Kukis by the NSCN (IM) in the 1990s. The Hindu received a copy of the letter on August 14.
According to KIM, the Naga outfit had orchestrated an “ethnic pogrom” killing more than 1,000 Kukis, uprooting 360 villages and internally displacing more than 100,000 Kuki people between 1992 and 1997.
The KIM reminded Mr. Modi that Kukis dominate five of the 16 districts of Manipur. “As such, any attempt to pamper the NSCN (IM) at the cost of Kuki ancestral land and without settling the Kuki political demands will be considered a betrayal of Kuki aspirations and is likely to fuel violent reprisals,” it said.
The political demands include making the NSCN (IM) pay for “acts of genocide” against the Kuki people and driving them out of their ancestral lands.
“We, therefore, urge you to seriously consider simultaneous settlement of Kuki and Naga aspirations for self-governance within the Union of India so as to rule out imminent adverse repercussions of a settlement between GoI (government of India) with the NSCN (IM) that affects Kuki-inhabited areas,” the KIM said.
It reminded the Prime Minister of several memoranda submitted earlier pointing out that the Framework Agreement – signed between the Centre and NSCN (IM) on August 3, 2015 – should not affect the Kukis in any away.
“The Kukis will accept any solution or agreement... if such agreement does not infringe upon the Kuki-inhabited areas and a similar political arrangement for self-governance of Kukis is accorded for Kuki territories,” the KIM said.
The apex organisation also said it believed in peaceful co-existence among different communities in Manipur and that “mutual respect among the communities of each other’s political and legal rights is the only way forward”.
