Lok Sabha polls 2024: Kukis pin hopes on Centre with only Naga candidates in fray in Outer Manipur

There are no posters, banners, or any other activities to suggest election fever in Meitei & Kuki stronghold constituencies in the state

Churachandpur/Moreh: The tricolour flutters at several places along the 15-km stretch of NH-105, between Pangal (Meitei Muslim)-dominated Kwakta and Kuki-dominated Churachandpur, where the Meitei-Kuki conflict broke out on May 3 last year. Remnants of burnt houses, shops and vehicles line the highway.

This is the "buffer zone" between the Meitei-dominated Bishnupur district and Churachandpur, manned mainly by the central security forces.

Vehicles are stopped, riders are frisked and details are collected in at least 10 places by the army, Assam Rifles, ITBP, BSF, CRPF and a few others. You belong to which community? Will you come back before sunset are the most common questions.

As the vehicle enters Churachandpur, a checkpoint at S Kawtlian village which is manned by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), a forum of the Kuki-Zo organisations, stops all vehicles. Kuki youth, some clad in camouflage and brandishing sticks, tell visitors to buy a pass for Rs 100 per person (to and fro). It is similar to the Inner Line Permit (ILP), which an outsider must take (also Rs 100 for 15-days pass) while visiting Manipur, available online now.

"We are fighting for our rights, not against the country," a Kuki youth told DH. "We are not interested in elections," the youth said when asked about the mood in the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha seat.

Like the Meitei-dominated Inner Manipur constituency, there is no poster, banner, or any other activity to suggest election fever. A similar atmosphere prevailed in Moreh, a Kuki-dominated town bordering Myanmar, about 110 km from Imphal.

Polling in the Outer Manipur seat will be conducted in two phases. While most Kuki-dominated areas will go for polling on April 19, the same in Naga-dominated areas are scheduled on April 26. Nagas, who live mainly in neighbouring Chandel, Ukhrul, Senapati and Tamenglong districts, however, have remained away from the Meitei-Kuki clash.  

Nagas and Kukis had a similar clash in Manipur in 1992-1993.

No candidates, no decision on voting

There are no Kuki-Zo candidates in the fray as the ITLF had issued a directive to abstain from contesting. This is even though Kukis have 10 MLAs (including seven BJP) and leaders of the community had won in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and even before that. Kuki leader from BJP, H Shokhopa Mate, came second in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Congress has fielded Alfred Kanngam S Arthur as its candidate, while the BJP and NPP have extended support to Naga People's Front candidate Kachui Timothy Zimik. Both of them belong to the Tangkhul Naga community. Two Independent candidates, also Nagas, are in the fray.

Fight for justice

Rows of empty coffins line the road just before Tuibuong village.

Photographs of the Kuki-Zo victims are put up on the "Wall of Remembrance" with details. The wall carries details of 182 dead, over 800 injured, and over 357 churches and 292 villages destroyed by the Meiteis.

The dummy coffins of those Kuki-Zos killed in the attack near Tuibong in Churachandpur town. 

"It is up to the people, whether they want to vote or not. But they should vote as a citizen of the country," Muan Tombing, General Secretary of ITLF told DH at the district library, a portion of which has been converted into a temporary office.

"Our fight is for protection of the rights of the Kuki-Zo people. We informed Home Minister Amit Shah that we want a separate administration as we cannot live with the Meiteis anymore. We are waiting for a positive response from the Centre after the elections," he said.

"If nothing is done, we will move ahead with the separate administration comprising Lamka (Churachandpur), Tengnoupal, Pherzawl and Kangpokpi districts. The four districts have about seven to eight lakh Kuki-Zo people. Kukis call Churachandpur Lamka," Tombing further said.

"We want a Puducherry-like Union Territory under the provisions in our Constitution," he said.

The sight of burnt, demolished houses of the Meiteis, who lived in Churachandpur town and its outskirts before the clash, drew the attention of the outsiders. "We have not taken over their lands here the way Meiteis have done to our houses in the Valley," he said. 

Vehicles were seen parked on the land from where the houses of the Meiteis at several places in Churachandpur were demolished. 

Not against EC, Constitution

At Moivom village situated a few km away, young Lalcha Haokip sits inside a bunker with his licensed rifle pointed towards Meitei-dominated Bishnupur, just about one km away.

"We are here to defend our villages against possible attacks by the Meities," Haokip, who wants to join the Indian Army, said.

The ITLF on March 26 asked the 'village volunteers' not to deposit their weapons as per the direction of the Election Commission.

"We are not against the EC and the Constitution, but we want something to defend ourselves. The weapons our village volunteers deposited in 2023 have not yet been returned. Manipur government may do the same this time to disarm the Kukis and attack us after the elections," Lelen Haokip, who is part of ITLF's logistics support team told DH.

A tricolor was also seen fluttering near the bunker inside the market. The tricolor, according to some Kuki men, was hoisted to convey the message that Kukis are not against the country and want separation from the Meiteis.