We will defend our land until the end: Manipur tribal spokesperson

Ginza Vualzong spokesperson of the Indigenous Tribal Union Front said that Kuki tribals will continue defending their land until the end, in an interview with National Herald.

He said, “We are not attacking the Meitei villages but defending our villages. In the process, people are getting killed on both sides but we will still be defending whatever land we have left.” According to the ITUF press statement, 106 tribals had been killed while another 41,125 tribals had been displaced leaving 201 razed villages behind.

“The displaced tribals have left for different places now. Some have gone to Kanpur, some to Mizoram, some to Guwahati while some have left for Delhi,” said Vualzong to NH.

He said this prior to publishing a press statement in the afternoon of June 26, from the ITUF, stating that they were against any form of interaction or dialogue with Manipur Chief minister N Biren Singh. He added in the press statement, “N. Biren Singh, the perpetrator of the current ethnic violence whose hatred for the Kuki-Zo community resulted in the genocide of the Kuki-Zo community, cannot be the harbinger of peace.”

Following a couple of attacks on Meitei civilians and their houses, Manipur CM Biren Singh branded Kuki tribals as ‘terrorists’ at a press conference on May 28. He said, “The fight is not between two communities (Meities and Kukis) but between Kuki militants bound by the Suspension of Operations agreement and combined teams of the central and state security forces.”

The Suspension of Operations agreement dictates that the two Kuki militant outfits, UPF and KNO, must abide by the Constitution of India, the laws of the land and the territorial integrity of Manipur. They are prohibited from committing all kinds of atrocities, including extortion. The militant cadres are to be confined to designated camps identified by the central government.

According to the ITUF spokesperson, the militant outfits had agreed to give up their arms and as of now the outfits’ arms and ammunition are kept inside a safe, far from their hands. “We have kept our end of the deal for the past ten years,” said Vualzong to NH. The SoO is a yearly agreement which has been renewed annually.

“The modus operandi is an ethnic cleansing of Kuki tribals,” said Lulun Baithe, a member of the Manipur Tribals Forum, Delhi, to NH.

Baithe further added that his organisation had been running from “pillar to post” to get somebody from the Centre to speak to them, for by now they had understood that the state machinery had failed. He also alleged that it was the Manipur Chief Minister himself who had branded the Kuki tribals as terrorists.

Baithe further alleged that the only reason the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central Government had not established President’s rule in the state is because of Biren Singh’s BJP background. “I have been trying to understand why they have not imposed President’s rule myself,” he added.

He added, however, that most of the attacks launched against the Kukis was not by traditional Meiteis, alleging that secessionist groups had been helped by the Manipur Police Force themselves to attack Kuki villages.

As of now, the Kuki outfit said that they are trying to establish a base by meeting leaders from Congress, Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT). However, according to them, the plan of action seems fairly bleak for the tribals, owing to a lack of coverage of their side of the story.

Baithe also said that the presence of the Armed Forces is also mainly hogwash since although there has been a declaration of Article 355, the troops had allegedly not been activated in the initial days. Moreover, the MTFD member said that the troops were mostly just present in the Imphal valley itself “providing security.”

“We are just waiting for peace to return to the state. The hills are peaceful but the valley has become the base of terror. We just want the government to give us separate administration,” he added, “Otherwise, there will always remain bad blood.”