As ethnic clashes broke out in the northeastern state of Manipur on May 3, 61-year-old Vungzagin Valte, BJP MLA from the Kuki-Zomi tribal community was brutally assaulted and left to die by a mob at his home on May 5 in the capital, Imphal. He received severe blows to the head and his family alleged Valte was given electric shocks by the attackers who they claim belonged to the militant group called Arambai Tenggol. Valte, a veteran tribal leader and former minister for Tribal Affairs and Hill in the previous Manipur state government, had to be airlifted out of Imphal and spent several months recuperating at the Indraprastha hospital in New Delhi.

Nineteen months later, Valte, who has lost the ability to clear speech since the attack and remains paralysed, arrived at Jantar Mantar in a wheelchair along with six other Kuki-Zo lawmakers to lodge his “silent protest” against the alleged “silencing” of minority voices in Manipur. In his hand, he held a placard reading, “Stop state-sponsored ethnic pogrom in Manipur”.

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Kuki-Zo MLAs Protest In Jantar Mantar

On May 10, observed globally as International Human Rights Day, seven Kuki-Zo MLAs from Manipur arrived at the protest site for a “silent” sit-in protest wearing black face masks to symbolise the “gag” on minority voices. They held placards accusing the Indian government of ignoring the plight of tribal minorities in Manipur.

“We the MLAs representing the persecuted minority community in Manipur hold this silent sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar today to demonstrate the fact that the Government of India refuses to hear the voice of the people we represent,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement. The lawmakers claim that their voices “have been muted”.  “We are wearing these black face masks to symbolise our gagged silence,” the lawmakers conveyed. 

Seeking an “early end” to what they have dubbed as an ethnic cleansing of the non-Naga tribal minorities of Manipur, the MLAs put forth two central demands. The first pertains to the establishment of a separate administration for Kuki-Zo-dominated hill regions in the form of a union territory with a separate legislature under the Constitution of India. 

The second demand raised by the MLAs is about the direct allocation of finances. “The central government must arrange alternative mechanisms for direct financing of development projects for our people under all ministries as the present Manipur state government has frozen all fund flows to our people since the beginning of the state-endorsed ethnic cleansing pogrom and resultant demographic separation in Manipur,” the joint statement. 

Also Read | Why Manipur Remains Volatile A Year After Ethnic Clashes

Highlighting Neglect

The lawmakers claim that since the beginning of the conflict, hill states have not been receiving any of the funds allocated to the state since the state government was controlled by N Biren Singh. Singhat MLA Chinlunthang said that at this juncture, separate administration for Kuki-Zomi-dominated areas is the only way to protect the integrity of the hills and safeguard the rights of hill dwelling communities. “The community and its representatives need to have a say in the resource allocation to the state. “ Rs 217.50 crore were allocated for road construction in Manipur under the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF). The entire fund has been directed solely towards road repair projects in the Imphal Valley. All the hill regions have been neglected”. 

Earlier in November, the Centre had sanctioned Rs 104.66 crore under the Prime Minister's Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE) to provide health care facilities in the hill districts like Chandel, Ukhrul, Jiribam, Senapati, and Tamenglong. The MLAs allege that conflict-affected regions like Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and others were intentionally skipped.  BJP’s Henglep MLA Letzamang Haokip also pointed out that these regions were in severe need of medical facilities. “We cannot access hospitals in Imphal. The only medical college here is in Churachandpur. Now the Manipur government is planning to shift the Churachandpur Medical College to West Imphal,” he said.

In the 2024-25 budget, the Manipur Chief Minister announced the allocation of Rs 2900 crores for the State Police amidst the law and order crisis. Manipur Police has been widely criticized since the conflict, especially by Kuki-Zomi-Hmar groups who feel the state police is dominated by Meiteis and have been acting against the Kuki-Zo people. 

The ten Kuki-Zo MLAs including seven from BJP, have also submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 1, seeking a joint audience with him. The lawmakers, however, claim that their pleas for an audience with senior BJP leaders have been falling on deaf ears. 

“We had met the Home Minister Amit Shah last May when we had been assured of a solution. We have been seeking an audience with the Prime Minister, Home Minister or the BJP President JP Nadda for over a year since then. But so far, no one has met us or tried to open a dialogue,” Saikot MLA Paolinlal Haokip of BJP said.

The ten Kuki-Zomi MLAs are Vungzagin Valte, Ngursanglur Sanate  Paolienlal Haokip, Letpao Haokip, LM Khaute, Letzamang Haokip, and Nemcha Kipgen of the BJP along with Kimneo Haokip Hangshing and  Chinlunthang of the Kuki People’s Alliance and Independent MLA Haokholet Kipgen.

What’s Behind The Ongoing Conflict In Manipur?

An estimated 240 people have been killed so far in the ethnic violence that erupted in Manipur on May 3, 2023. As per government answers to the Parliament, around 160 people were killed from May 3-December 31, 2023. This year has seen ongoing incidents of violent escalations, the latest in Jiribam. Over 50,000 people have been displaced in the violence. 

The conflict started after protests led among the hill-dwelling tribal communities which include the Naga and non-Naga tribes (the latter broadly categorised under the umbrella of Kuki-Zomi) led by All Manipur Tribal Union (AMTU) turned violent in Churachandpur, leading to clashes between Kukis and the valley-dwelling Meiteis, the dominant community in Manipur. Tensions had been rising in the region following the Manipur High Court’s direction to the Meitei-dominated State government to consider the request of the Meitei community's inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes list. Kuki-Zomi groups in the hills claim that the demand for inclusion in ST list is just a ploy by the dominant Meitei community to acquire tribal lands and resources. The direction has been reversed since the violence.

Paolienlal Haokip asserted that tensions between the hill and valley had been simmering long before the conflict. “The hill regions of state have long felt the pinch of majoritarian neglect, as can be easily discerned from the state of the region’s development metrics,” the Saikot MLA said.

The Indian government enacted the Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council Act in 1971 to safeguard the hill areas and protect tribal groups by enabling the creation of six Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) in the hill areas of Manipur. “Over successive governments, these ADs have been rendered useless, they have no real autonomy,” Haokip said.

In October, Manipur Congress accused the Biren government of not holding the ADC elections for four years since it has been in power. On October 14, the Hill Areas Committee (HAC), a body under the Manipur Legislative Assembly, passed a resolution to “recommend to the government of Manipur to conduct the long pending ADC election as soon as possible.” Haokip, however, said that despite the rule mandating that all hill council representatives together elect the Chairperson, council chiefs are often “cherry picked” by the government and thus the appointed representatives fail to truly stand for the needs of the people they represent. Haokip alleges that irrespective of the party in power, Manipur government has always “sidelined the needs of tribal people and areas”. “Unfortunately, leaders from our own communities have often colluded with the government, willingly or unwillingly, to ensure the valley people stay in control of the hills’ resources,” the MLA added. 

The Meitei community makes up 53 percent of the population of Manipur and remains politically and culturally dominant in the valley. Meanwhile, the Naga and Kuki/Zomi ethnic groups live in the hill region, which constitutes 90 percent of its landmass. As per Census 2011 data, the various Naga ethnic groups comprise 24 percent of the population while the Kuki/Zomi tribes (that belong to the Chin-Kuki-Mizo group of people) comprise 16 percent.  While there are many reasons attributed to the ongoing conflict, many among the Kuki-Zomi believe that the conflict is not an ethnic clash but a systematic ploy to take over tribal lands and distribute it to corporate lobbies and the majority community.

Control Of Hill Lands

While Singh has been accused of perpetuating anti-Kuki sentiment by arbitrarily dubbing Kukis as “illegal immigrants” from Myanmar, “drug addicts” and “poppy cultivators”, Kuki-Zomi leaders and civil society have stated that attempts to take over tribal land by displacing indigenous people has been an ongoing “pet project of the CM”. 

“There are many reasons why the Manipur government would want to control the hill lands. The government’s proposed palm oil plantations across hilly tracts of Manipur (which tribals have previously opposed) and the state’s rich oil and natural gas resources make it very lucrative” a Delhi-based member of Tribal Forum of Manipur employed with the Central government said, requesting anonymity. Local activists in Churachandpur from the Kuki Student Organisation and Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) have previously accused Biren Singh of attempting to take over tribal land by misappropriating forest laws.

In February, months before the conflict, a Forest Department notification dated November 2022 led to an eviction drive in K Songjang village in which several tribal people lost their homes. The notification derecognised 38 villages in Churachandpur and Noney districts, claiming they fell within the Churachandpur-Khoupum Protected Forest. “The villages had previously been exempted from being part of Protected Forests by the Forest Settlement Officer, based on their preexisting rights on the land and they had the approval of previous governments,” Haokip said. The notification said that the permission for settlement was granted to the villages by an officer who was not qualified to do so. “The Manipur government had not appointed an FSO at the time so in their absence, the Assistant FSO signed the papers as the acting authority. Now they are saying he is not qualified authority”.

Having frustrated all other means of communication, the MLAs claim they are mulling their future options. “We are being questioned by our own people. Some want us to resign from MLA’s position,” Letzamang Haokip said.

On the question of why the MLAs don’t quit the party, the unanimous response was, “Who will represent the Kukis at the Centre then?” With no place to turn to, the MLAs claim they are facing a “strange conundrum” now. “This is not politics anymore. This is an existential crisis for us. We are answerable to our people and our party but the party has completely ignored our voice,” Paolinlal Haokip said.