SPEAKING
FREELY Identity crisis in ethnic
India By Nehginpao Kipgen
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Renowned social
scientists James Fearon and David Laitin in their
seminal article "Violence and the Social
Construction of Ethnic Identity" assert that
ethnic cleavages emerge because of
the construction of identities
for specific political purposes. This phenomenon
partially holds true in the case of the ethnic
Kukis and Nagas in Manipur, India's historically
restive northeastern state.
Manipur, a
state of 2.7 million people, is home to three
major ethnic groups, namely the Kuki, Naga, and
Meitei. While the Meiteis, who are primarily
settled in four valley districts, clamor for the
territorial integrity of the state, the Kukis and
the Nagas call for separate administrative
arrangements in the hill areas. These competing
agendas underlie the state's continued instability
and underdevelopment and threaten to cause new
rounds of instability.
Identity is a major
source of conflict between the Kukis and Nagas. In
the process of identity formation, a number of
tribes, including the Anal, Maring, Monsang and
Moyon, have been assimilated into the Naga either
by coercion or other forms of persuasion. Another
major source of the conflict is land disputes.
Ethnic violence from 1992 to 1997 between
the two ethnic groups resulted in the death of
over 1,000 people, the destruction of thousands of
homes, and the displacement of tens of thousands
of people. While the physical violence has ceased,
tensions between the two groups still lingers. The
simmering tension has led to different forms of
agitation from both sides, with each making
competing claims and counterclaims.
The
violent conflict initially started between the
Thadou and Maring tribes, both of which were
recognized as Kuki during the British colonial
administration. While the casualty figures of the
Nagas are unclear, the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM),
the most prominent civil body of the Kuki people
based in Manipur, claims that over 961 Kukis were
killed, 360 villages uprooted, and 100,000 people
rendered homeless during clashes in the 1990s.
Yet the most significant point of
contention between the two groups remains land
dispute. The Kuki National Front (KNF), later
joined by the Kuki National Organization (KNO),
demands that a "Kukiland" be carved out of the
five hill districts of Manipur, namely
Churachandpur, Chandel, Senapati, Tamenglong and
Ukhrul.
That demand represents a direct
challenge to the Nationalist Socialist Council of
Nagaland Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM) extremist group's
demand for the creation of a greater Nagaland to
be comprised of territories in northeast India and
neighboring Myanmar. The goal of the militant
outfit is to amalgamate the four hill districts of
Manipur - Chandel, Senapati, Tamenglong and Ukhrul
- and to form a greater Nagaland by merging with
the existing, neighboring Nagaland state.
The attempt to forcibly drive Kukis from
the four hill districts led to allegations of
"ethnic cleansing" by the NSCN-IM. Though the
initial violence was triggered by militant outfits
in Chandel district, it eventually spread to other
parts of Manipur, to Nagaland state and areas
where ethnic Nagas live in neighboring Myanmar as
well.
KIM has put forward two important
demands to the Nagas and the Indian government to
address those past abuses. First, it has demanded
that the Nagas, especially the NSCN-IM, formally
apologize for their crimes of the 1990s and
perform Kuki customary death rites, including
paying luongman (corpse price) and
tol-theh (cleaning the house for shedding
human blood). Second, KIM has demanded that the
Indian government provide compensation for the
loss of life and property to the thousands of
displaced victims.
Naga leaders,
particularly the NSCN-IM, have not responded to
KIM's demands. It is unclear if the Naga leaders,
particularly the United Naga Council (UNC), the
apex civil body of the Nagas in Manipur, and
NSCN-IM, an extremist offshoot, have the intention
to make similar demands from the Kukis to perform
customary rites for the deaths of Nagas.
While the Meiteis oppose the creation of
either a Kuki homeland or greater Nagaland, the
Kukis and Nagas are unable to establish any kind
of coordination or cooperation. This is partly due
to the still simmering tensions caused by the
1992-1997 clashes.
The tension has become
deeply communal, creating an environment of mutual
distrust which makes it difficult for civil
society organizations to initiate any congenial
dialogue between the two groups. It is unclear,
meanwhile, whether the government views the issue
as an internal matter for the concerned groups to
resolve among themselves or as insufficiently
significant to intervene.
While the
tension lingers, the government continues to
engage in a political dialogue with the NSCN-IM,
ignoring calls by Kuki armed groups for similar
talks despite their maintaining a suspension of
operations since 2005. It remains unclear whether
this is an institutional problem with the Kuki
armed organizations or instead is a manifestation
of New Delhi's perceived bias toward the NSCN-IM.
The Nagas' demand for a greater Nagaland
is based in a decades-old movement. Similarly, the
Kuki National Assembly, a political body
established in 1946, submitted a memorandum to the
first Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru on
March 24, 1960, demanding the "immediate" creation
of a Kuki state comprising all the Kuki inhabited
areas of Manipur.
With these competing and
overlapping demands for the same geographical
areas, any attempt by New Delhi to resolve the
conflict with one group while sidelining the other
could engender more problems. That danger was
apparent with the Kuki State Demand Committee's
(KSDC) announcement on January 21, 2013 that it
would launch a campaign of agitation, including a
"Quit Kukiland" movement and boycott call of any
official Indian programs, including Republic Day
celebrations.
The KSDC, which demands a
Kuki state, has also called on the Indian
government to begin a political dialogue with Kuki
armed groups or withdraw its local authorities
from Kuki inhabited areas. It also said it would
resume a statewide public blockade, a threat it
had withdrawn last December, and initiate a
plebiscite in Kuki areas for political resolution.
Though there is no quick fix to the
ongoing problems of the Kukis and the Nagas, it
has become an issue that can no longer be ignored
in New Delhi. Any amicable political solution
would entail participation from both ethnic groups
and other concerned parties, including the central
and state governments.
As Fearon and
Laitin put it, the assimilation of some of the
Kuki tribes into Naga fold augments the intensity
and complexity of the conflict. Until it is
resolved, the question of ethnic identity will
continue to create cleavages.
Nehginpao Kipgen is general
secretary of the US-based Kuki International
Forum. His research focuses on the politics of
South and Southeast Asia. His academic article
entitled "Politics of Ethnic Conflict in Manipur"
focusing on the Kukis and Nagas will be published
in South Asia Research journal by Sage (London) in
February 2013.
Speaking Freely is
an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest
writers to have their say.Please
click hereif you are interested in
contributing.
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