New Delhi: A collective of Thadous, among the largest tribal communities in Manipur, shared a platform with a coalition of Meitei groups in Delhi Friday, calling for their recognition as a community distinct from the Kukis, adding a new dimension to the ethnic chasm in the state that has persisted for nearly two years.
Following a day-long meeting with the Meitei Alliance, the Thadou Inpi Manipur, which was formed in Guwahati last November, asserted that the members of the community should not be clubbed with Kukis.
While the forum has issued similar statements in the past, it was the first time since the conflict broke out in May 2023 that the Thadous shared a stage with the Meiteis.
“Despite being the largest settled tribe in Manipur, the distinct cultural and social identities of the Thadous have been suppressed in the name of so-called Kuki nationalism. Thadous have been mistakenly identified as Kukis,” said Michael Lamjathang Haokip, general secretary of the Thadou Inpi Manipur.
However, Haokip’s affiliation as a Bharatiya Janata Party leader has been a matter of contention among a section of Thadous, who do not recognise the Thadou Inpi Manipur as a forum representing their rights. These bodies include Thadou Inpi General Headquarters that has in the past termed the declarations and decisions of the Thadou Inpi Manipur as “null and void”.
Incidentally, N. Biren Singh, who stepped down as the Manipur Chief Minister in February, had welcomed the formation of the Thadou Inpi Manipur.
Speaking to ThePrint, Haokip admitted that the Thadous remain a divided lot, with one section identifying themselves as Kukis and the other seeing themselves as a distinct tribe that should collaborate with the Meiteis for restoration of peace in Manipur.
“The Thadou groups that align themselves with Kukis are proxies of sponsored militias that want to prolong the violence. But I want to categorically state that the Thadou Inpi Manipur has nothing to do with the BJP,” Haokip said.
The joint statement issued by the Thadou Inpi Manipur and the Meitei Alliance, which is a collective of various Meitei civil society groups based outside Manipur, stressed on a collaborative approach and community action to address “specific genuine concerns of the communities” in the state.
It also called for delisting of the “Any Kuki Tribe” nomenclature, added in 2003, from the Scheduled Tribe list of Manipur and demanded an updation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The Thadou leaders repeatedly stressed that Friday’s joint statement was “not a peace agreement”.
Also, even as the two communities shared a stage in Delhi, Thadou leaders in attendance admitted that the situation remained so tense that they were not in a position to step into the Meitei-dominated Valley districts.
Apart from Thadous, the non-Naga tribes in Manipur include Gangte, Hmar, Paite, Simte, Sahte, Vaiphul, Zou and Mate. Collectively, there are 34 tribes in Manipur.
The Thadou Inpi Manipur asserted that of the 12 non-Naga tribes in the state, as many as 11 do not identify themselves as Kuki. Haokip argued that Kuki is a foreign word “imposed by the colonials, undermining and belittling our indigenous identity”.
The development came a day ahead of a proposed peace march to Manipur’s hill districts—inhabited by tribal communities—announced by the Federation of Civil Society Organisations, a Meitei collective, which has met with vociferous resistance from various Kuki civil society organisations.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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