Mark Haokip 22 mins Ref No. ……………. Date …15/11/14 KPLF/KPLA FOR INDEPENDENCE OF THE KUKIS Introduction : A new Kuki based revolutionary organization name Kuki People Liberation Front (KPLF) and Kuki People Liberation Army (its armed wing) (KPLF/KPLA) has been formed three years ago but remains under cover till today as the structuring and organizing jobs have not been fully completed till very recently. Now by the grace of God the ground work of the organization is completed and the organization is in a position to highlights few of its main objectives, reasons for its formation and brief background history to the general public through our esteemed local papers. Aim & objective : Creation of Kuki gam (Kukiland) by amalgamating all areas/territories which had been occupied and dominated in the past by our ancestors. These areas are now scattered into the boundaries of three independent countries viz. India, Burma and Bangla Desh. The main goal of the organization is to restore the past glory and political sovereignty of the Kukis and to uplift them socially-politically and economically at par with others. Areas of operation : The operational area of the organization would be Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Assam, Burma, Bangla Desh and other areas where Kukis are there. Central administration : The overall and central administration of the organization shall be carried on with the President at its head to be assisted by other officials like vice presidents and secretaries of important departments who also formed the Cabinet. Reason for the formation of the organization : Geographically, politically, socially and economically, the poor Kukis are suppressed and not permitted to grow farther. Their ancestral land had been scattered and divided among three sovereign countries and they are made minority and disunited in all these places. Hence, to re-unite and revive them socially, economically and politically is a must so that their lives could be upgraded. To fight for this most vital part is utmost important and also our natural birth rights. The organization is set towards this particular goal. The organization will join hands and work together with like-minded revolutionary groups of the region to set themselves free from socio-economic and political colonialism and other forms of bondage. In India as well as other places we the Kukis have been reduced to minority, supressed and left disunited. We have been scattered to different places against our will. We became citizens of three sovereign countries much against to our will. We maintained utmost loyalty to the authority wherever we are but we are not accorded proper place, status and position. In fact we are being treated as second rate citizens. Our loyalty is being misunderstood by the authorities as well as our fellow citizens of other communities. At time the wrath of our fellow citizens fell upon our head and as a result at times we are attempted to wipe out and at other time we are dubbed foreigners out of jealousies and greed. We are killed, chased out of our homes and hearths and some time we have become refugee in our own land with little care from the authorities. The governments miserably failed in protecting us. Not to talk of protecting, the govt utterly failed in rehabilitating those affected by such communal clashes. This is the good price that we are paying to become loyal to the governments. Now it is amply clear that demanding state or autonomy for the Kukis will no longer serve any purpose as the govt will continue to ignore the aspiration of the Kukis. Hence, to start a movement in order to restore the past/lost political freedom of the Kukis is a must and the sole purpose of this organization is this and this alone. This is our birth rights and we have to march on till we achieve it. We are not opposed to anybody’s political aspiration but we also have the right to live under a secure and separate administration as we used to live in the past. That is the only option left and the only way to continue to live as human being. In this way we can protect ourselves from unwanted and unnecessary interference from others. This is the situation and the reason behind in establishing an armed organization to spearhead to achieve the set political goal. It is a legitimate claim but not a demand. We have lived under our own system of administration in the past independently and we would like to be so in future too. Our movement is not directly against India or anybody but it is our legitimate rights granted to us by many international human rights laws. Brief history of the Kukis : The word Kuki is a generic term which includes a number of tribes, sub-tribes and clans. It is derived from the Baluch word meaning ‘nomadic’ or ‘wandered’. In Bengalis and Assamese word the literal meaning of Kuki is wild hill tribes/people. In Bengali word the meaning of the term Kuki is hillmen or highlanders or simply hill tribes. Thus they are a nation of hunters and warriors ruled as a nation by their principal hereditary chiefs or rajahs but divided into clans, each under its own head clans or chiefs. Whatever may be the origin of the term Kuki, the fact remains that it denotes a particular group of people having more or less the same language, culture and tradition distinct from other communities. The term Kuki is not very old but the Kukis are indigenous tribal groups of the North East India known by differing names in the past. The change of world political and social environment scenario had great impact upon them and today only half of the total population of the Kukis could be identify as Kuki since many of the Kuki tribes called themselves by different names. As the sole owner and rulers of the hill areas of Manipur and some other adjoining territories of other states, they dare to oppose the mighty British and a full scale war took place from 1917 -1919. The Kukis as rulers of the hills of Manipur used to maintained cordial relations with the Manipur kings during the heydays of the Manipur rajas and Maharajas. There had been instances where the Kukis assisted the Manipur kings when the latter need help and support from the former. To mention of one or two instances, the Kukis assisted king Herachandra of Manipur to regain its lost independent during the Seven years Devastation. The Kuki chiefs mobilized 380 Kuki army to launch guerrilla warfare alongside the Meitei king. Again the Meitei king Maharaja Chandrakirtee was helped by the Kukis in the war against a tribal chief named Kamhau Suhte. In the war, the Kuki army even saved the personal life of the Maharaja when he was about to be killed by the enemy. In return the Maharaja rewarded the Kukis by way of acknowledging them the sole authority and owner cum ruler of the hills that remain till 1949 when the Maharaja of Manipur was forced to sign merger agreement with India. Today several memorial monuments, parks, Bazars etc have been raised in memory of war heroes of Manipur but not any one of the Kuki war heroes are included. In deed, it was the Kuki Rebellion of the 1917-1919 which was the last Anglo-Manipur war. Principal areas of the Kukis : Chin Hills and upper Chindwin in Burma, Chittagong hills tracts in Bangla desh and North Eastern states (Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Assam) of India are some principal areas where Kukis are found. In the entire south East Asia there are 2,000,000 Kuki population (approximately). Some writers claimed that the Kukis belonged to Indo-Chinese family, some other writers called them as Tibeto-Burman group. But a Burmese scholar Taw Sien Kho classified them as a sub-family of Turanean which includes the Chinese, Manchus, Japanese, Siamese, Burmese and Turks. But today they have been known by various names which make them look like small in population. Relations of Kuki, Chin & Mizo (CHIKIM) – Historically and genealogically these tribes are the same and they belonged to the same family. As time passed on, they came to be separated into three independence countries Viz. India, Burma and Bangla Desh. They came to be known as Chin in Burma, Kuki in India and Mizo in Mizoram state of India. Many Kuki tribes are found in Chittagong hill tracks of Bangla Desh and Tripura state of India with differing nomenclatures. In the CHIKIM families, Chins and Mizos are not yet a divided house but the Kukis seem to be a divided house wherever they are. Chins have a separate state in Burma and Mizos have the same in India but the Kukis are yet to have any of the sort. Today some of the Kukis apparently choose other terms other than Kuki which farther divided the house of the Kukis . Emergence of Kuki Nationalism – Some degrees of nationalism had emerged among the Kukis since the later part of 18th c. They started attacking the British might since 1777. These attacks and counter attacks beginning from 1777 culminated to the famous Kuki Rebellion or Uprising of 1917 -1919. Again the Kukis took active part in attacking the British dominion by joining hands with the INA and the Japanese forces during the latter part of the Second World War. These actions of the Kukis are considered to be part of the Indian National movement today as they have become part of India. They took up arms against the mighty British mainly because they don’t want to be colonized or controlled by the imperialist forces. Kukis in the freedom struggle of India – Though the Kukis were not part of India in the past they took up arms against the mighty British from 1917 -1919 to free themselves from the yoked of the British imperialism. At that time the freedom struggle movement was going on in mainland India. Again the Kukis took the side of Japanese forces and try to chase away the British from the land at the time when the latter were waging war against the British along with the INA. Here too the INA and the Japanese forces were defeated and so were the Kukis. In both the world wars the Kukis took a national decision to wage war against the British imperialism but in both the occasions they were defeated. The defeats of the Kukis in both the wars had great bad impact because of the fact that the erstwhile national unification of the Kukis as a nation was broken permanently. This is the situation and the reason behind in establishing an armed organization to spearhead to achieve the set political goal. It is a legitimate claim though not necessarily a demand. Our movement is not directly against India or anybody but it is our constitutional rights granted to us by Indian constitution as well as many other international human rights law. During the time of Mizo National Front (MNF) independent movement, the Kukis lend helping hands to brethren with hope of reviving and restoring the lost independence but the movement was crushed finally. Mizo Accord was signed on June 30, 1986 and the state of Mizoram came into being but the Kukis got nothing out of it and the high hope of the Kukis came to nothing. In pursuance of a sovereign Naga state the Naga army launched a movement against the loyal citizens of India. Here the Kukis became their main target. The formation of NSCN in early 1980 continues its movement for independence from India and the agenda against the Kukis continues as before that culminated into a full-scale civil war between the Nagas and the Kukis during 1992 -1995 in the entire hill areas of Manipur. The Kukis considered themselves worthy to be rewarded for their contribution towards the freedom of India but much against to their expectation and hopes they were openly neglected. Thus after looking every nook and corner the Kuki National Assembly (KNA) took a decision and submitted a memorandum to the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, on 24th March 1960 for creation of separate homeland for the Kukis within the framework of the Indian constitution but again it fell upon deaf ears. Hence, to start a movement to restore the past/lost political freedom of the Kukis is a must and it should be the end objective of this organization. Factors for the emergence of Kuki armed movement - The neglect of the genuine demand of the Kukis by the Government oI hurt the sentiment of the Kuki people and the emergence of the armed movement in the late 80s was the result of it. Therefore the birth of the Kuki armed movement was neither an accident nor the feeling of vengeance upon someone. Rather it is a continuation of the unfulfilled dream which had been initiated by our predecessors. However, the deep rooted disunity and power struggles among the Kuki armed groups forced them to enter into Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement with the Indian army in 2005 followed by the tripartite agreement between the Centre govt and Manipur state govt on one side and the Kuki UGs on the other side in 2008. This agreement pact was a very pre-mature one that became a big blunder for the Kukis. The aspiration of political solution through political dialogue was the hope since the start of SoO agreement but so far nothing concrete comes out of it. The Kukis, considered themselves having valuable contributions towards the freedom of India, were dismay to see that they are left in the dark without any political future. Formation of Kuki People Liberation Front : It was formed formally in 2010 under the initiative of some farsighted people on the back drop of the pre-mature signing of Suspension of Operation of the Kuki based revolutionary groups with the govt of India and Manipur state government. The organization is determined to struggle for the set goal till the end since it is our legitimate rights to fight for our self-determination. Sd/- Chengjapao, President, KPLF/KPLA (Hills Today)
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 15:23:39 +0000
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