New Delhi might have been misled, New Delhi might have been wrong.... it trusted 'wrong organisations' .... High time to Reboot the Kuki policy

The KZC - Kuki Zo Council - has recently emerged as an eminent tribal bodies of the Kukis and Zo people. 

This is what New Delhi believed or was made to believe. 

The Union Home Ministry officials recently met the concerned representatives of KZC.

They might have met other Kuki leaders including elected MLAs or even un-elected politicians. But the fact of the matter is when it comes to talking about 'progress' in talks to ensure amity between Meiteis and  Kukis and Zos on the backdrop of 2023 clashes; nothing substantial has been achieved so far. 

This is not to downplay the efforts being made by New Delhi and lately the state administration under Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla. 

It may not be erroneous to even call the present stage with regard to talks that things are in a limbo.  Officials -- as the Babudom speed goes - will need little more time to realise that they did not hold parleys with 'effective players' on ground. 

Nobody should be blamed for this shortcoming. 

Actually things are complex as it is in north east. Things are more complex when it comes to handling issues in Manipur. And to the next stage -- we have another serious problem and a higher scale of complexities -- when it comes to Kukis in a typical general sense of term.

I have a Hmar friend. In the 1990s when I had introduced him to former Nagaland Chief Minister Vamuzo; the late regionalist remarked innocuously - "Hey, your friend looks like a Kuki... Do not take him to Nagaland". 

The pun was understood as Nagaland and parts of Manipur those days were experiencing a bitter dosage of Tangkhul-Kuki clashes. But all that were called Naga-Kuki clash.

 

Our meeting was in Delhi. My Hmar friend - spirited as ever - retorted: "Kukis are Mizos and Hmars are also Mizos".  

The debate went on for a while till the dinner  hospitality took us to rather debate about good quality of pork and some bad quality of alcohol. 

Hmars are not alone.

I have another instance to refer to.

This was Jan 18th, 2025 when I visited Churachandpur and here I found Zomis and Kukis were two "different" entities. 

In fact, I even penned a blog piece 

Article on Kukis and Zomis  

Misrepresentation by generalization like ‘Meitei vs. Kuki’ or ‘Meitei vs. Kuki-Zo’ are repeatedly perpetuated, complained a 20-something youth working with a private transport operator in Churachandpur.

Her complaint is something quite similar -- one has heard probably a few decades back in Assam or even in eastern Nagaland.

"If New Delhi discriminates north east.... Dispur or Imphal discriminated Kokrajhar and Churachandpur. In the process, vested groups and political stakeholders have marginalised smaller communities Hmar and Zomi," she said.

There are some in Manipur who describe Kukis as nomadic group of people. But they also hasten to add that ‘Kuki’ is perhaps only a colonial terminology.

On this backdrop comes a question -- what can we advise New Delhi and especially the officials.

Our refrain can be - so far so good. But the Ministry of Home affairs should try a 'new formula' as a sincere experiment. And there are reasons for the same. 

In tech world, they say reboot the system. 

The Zo people comprise various sub-tribes and clans such as the Chin, Kuki, Mizo, Lushei, Zomi, Paitei, Hmar, Ralte, Pawi, Lai, Mara, Gangte, Thadou, etc. 

Apart from ethnicity, the tribes are also knit together by religion. Traditionally, the Zo people were animists and practiced ancestral worship but are today Christians. 

Now just as another example take only the case of Thadou people. 

Studies will reveal that prior to the arrival of the British, the Manipuris (or Meiteis) referred to the Thadou Kukis as "Khongjais".

The British replaced this term with "Kukis", which was accepted by Thadou Kukis without reservation, even though the term applied equally to all Kuki-Chin language-speaking people.

But in due course the Thadou Kukis remained the only people continuing the use of "Kuki", almost turning it into a tribe identity. 

Actually this added to the complexities further. This has been also pointed out as a 'misappropriation' of the term, since the "Kuki" label belongs to all the Kuki-Zo people.

Meiteis say while Thadous are original inhabitants of Manipur in hilly and far-flung areas; others are 'nomadic' tribe people who came from 'outside' -- areas/geographical boundaries such as Mizoram, Assam, Nagaland and even Myanmar. 

The 2023 conflicts with Meiteis have a lot to do with this 'web of complexities'.

Similarly, Vaipheis have done business with Tangkhul Nagas and this has also complicated things. 

Vaipheis were also said to be belonging to the broad Kuki family.

In the ultimate, the Union Home Ministry and the officials therein have to slog harder.

They may need more time. But that's worth investment. Try meeting all smaller groups -- the Inpis one by one or in smaller groups.

Things may work well if social workers and media persons are also engaged 'just for initial interaction'. 

Try creating a confederation of leaders from all smaller tribes through their apex bodies namely Kuki Inpi, Zomi Council, Hmar Inpi and Mizo People's

Council.

"Kuki Inpi, but Hmar Inpui. The meaning is the same. 'Inpui' means ancestral home or home of the joint family. It refers to an apex body of the sub tribes." - commented someone in the know of things. 

In life as in cartoons -- there is often a moment when a character having reached a cliff is still unaware of the fact and hangs suspended. 

ends