The so-called Kuki-Zo fraternity took out another rally on Monday, June 24 demanding a political solution to their political aspirations in towns under their control. The solidarity rally under the banner of All Tribal Students Union Manipur (ATSUM) on May 3, 2023 marked the beginning of an internecine conflict in which Meiteis were driven out of Churachandpur and Moreh followed by incessant attacks on fringe villages of the valley by armed Kuki militants, although the ‘tribal solidarity part’ refused to play out as the Naga community stuck to peaceful rallies without any communal fervour or brandishing of arms and violence. A few days afterward, the demand for ‘separate administration’ came into the picture alleging oppression by the Meiteis. Interestingly, their political aspirations keep 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 do 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 are compelled to check their notes again. Perhaps, that might have been the cause for voicing the Union Territory slogan. However, it is still not certain whether they are talking of a single Union Territory or two such units as everyone knows the deep-seated divide between the Kukis and the Zos or the Paites.
That is where, the choice of June 24 for the Kuki-Zo rally comes into question. It was on this day in 1997 that the Kuki-Paite ethnic clashes broke out. On June 24, 1997, cadres of Kuki National Front, entered Saikul Paite village near Churachandpur and shot dead 10 people and injured five others on the pretext of giving shelter to the NSCN(I-M) cadres. The following day, the Paites started retaliating by attacking Kukis and localities in Churachandpur town with whatever weapon they had, burned down houses belonging to Kukis. Thereafter, KNF (Kuki National Front) and the ZRA (Zomi Re-Unification Army) along with the Zomi National Volunteers (ZNV) came to be directly involved in the conflict.
According to government records, 352 people were killed and 136 people were injured, 50 villages were destroyed, and 4670 houses were burned down to ashes along with properties therein. The conflict lasted till October 1998. Even with the semblance of Kuki-Zo solidarity in the present conflict, it was often threatened by clashes between Kukis and Paites which were hushed up by an unseen hand which somehow controlled the moves.
The Kukis might have forgotten the significance of June 24, but the Paites would not. Manipur is no stranger to communal conflicts. In the early 90s, there was a huge population shift as a result of Naga-Kuki clashes which rocked Manipur for about a year. As the communal conflict between Naga Lim Guard and Kuki Defence Force raged on, thousands of Kukis settled in Naga dominated areas sought shelter in Kuki dominated areas in the vicinity of Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Moreh. Hundreds of innocent villagers on both sides were killed and several villagers laid to waste.
Kangpokpi and Moreh became major grouping centres for the Kuki refugees and several new villages sprung up, while Nagas remain in their original habitat. Previously, the settlement pattern of the Kukis was such that for every major Naga village there was a Kuki village adjacent to it. However after the Naga-Kuki clash, a massive population shift occurred.
In Churachandpur district, the Paites or Zomis were in majority and the newly arrived Kukis had to settle in the outskirts of Churachandpur proper and along the highways leading to Churachandpur town. Ultimately, these new settlements and struggle for dominance became one of the causes of the Kuki-Paite conflict later on.
