“We were cast aside. The doors of the valley were shut on us. If the government now asks us to return, we will forever live in fear. The forces that tried to wipe us out will always be watching, waiting for their chance to strike again. We can never trust them again. Never.”
- says Dr Seilen Haokip, spokesperson of Kuki National Organisation
In an interview with powercorridors.in, Haokip recalled the personal cost of the clashes, revealing that his house was among those burned down by the Meitei mob. “That was the only house I possessed. Now, I live in a rented house. And I’m not alone—hundreds of others face the same torment,” he said.
Dr. Haokip’s doctoral research, completed in 2001, was titled “Identity, Conflict, and Nationalism: The Naga and Kuki Peoples of Northeast India and Northwest Burma.”
“What happened on May 3, 2023 to us was a nightmare—one that remains vivid for those who lost their loved ones, whose homes were burned, whose siblings and parents were butchered before their very eyes.
Will any sensitive soul ask us to embrace that life again?," he said.
Of course he also spoke about decades of alleged neglect of Kuki-dominated areas and said:
“After Manipur’s merger with India, the valley-dominated government controlled most development funds, leaving us with scraps. We were treated like beggars, receiving whatever they threw at us. No schools, no hospitals, no jobs. We have lived in a dark ghetto for too long. We want to step into the sunlight of peace and dignity. No—we cannot go back.”
Pointing out that Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Uttarakhand were created in the last two decades based on their distinct identities, hesays:
“We expect the same. We want a separate existence under Article 239(A). What is wrong with that?”
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| Kuki relief camp at Churachandpur |
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