Guwahati: Marking a scale down from their previous stance on the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), the apex body of the Kuki community has said the Centre can implement the exercise in Kuki-Zo areas, provided it adheres to constitutional rules and principles.
Even as the Kuki Inpi sounded a warning Friday that the NRC exercise may be carried out within the “territorial bounds” of the Meitei community, “clearly marked by the buffer zones”, it also stated that any such move by the Centre for identification of illegal immigrants “as per constitutional rules and principles” would not be disputed.
“…If the central government perceives any need for implementation of NRC in the Kuki-Zo inhabited regions, the Kuki Inpi will not dispute any such genuine efforts for identification and necessary actions as per constitutional rules and principles; provided that it is carried out under strict supervision of the Supreme Court and in due consultation with Kuki Inpi Manipur,” read a KIM statement Friday, hinting at constitutional safeguards for the hill areas under Article 371C of the Constitution.
“Subsequently, any illegal immigrant so found; whether a Kuki, Naga or Meitei, may be thoroughly dealt with as per established laws of the country.”
It further remained steadfast on the demand for a Union Territory with legislature in the the interest of Kuki-Zo people.
Manipur CM N.Biren Singh has long pushed for implementation of the NRC – a move that features among the “core issues” his government raised. In a recent interview with ThePrint, Singh pledged to not compromise on these issues even if the Centre decides to remove him from office.
While the CM stated that the base year for determining citizenship would be 1961, a memorandum submitted Thursday by the Coordinating Committee for Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a Meitei civil society organisation (CSO), suggested 1951 as the base year to “curb the Influx of illegal immigrants”..
Irrespective of the base year, the Kuki-Zomi community leaders are ready to support the execution of the NRC, provided it is done in a “fair manner”.
Kuki-Zo leaders in Churachandpur are of the opinion that the NRC demand is a “good” move — for the security of indigenous communities.
In June last week, Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) general secretary Muan Tombing told ThePrint that no “foreigner” has migrated from Myanmar, and that illegal immigrants crossed over to India while escaping the crisis in the neighbouring country.
“It’s good if we have the NRC, provided it must be fair. Biren Singh is always talking about illegal immigrants. Before Independence, there was no boundary between India and Myanmar. And even after the international border came up, we have remained close with each other, like ‘blood brothers’. Inter-marriage between Indian and Myanmar villages continued,” said Tombing.
“Illegals immigrants were detained from various places and kept in shelters in the past two years. Many of them were deported. No foreigner came here to stay — some arrived for health checkups, but always returned. Even for a child’s naming ceremony, they would visit for a day and go back; we would do the same,” he added, pointing out places in India that would just be a mere hop, skip and jump from Myanmar.
Seiboi Touthang, general secretary of Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO)-General Headquarters, wants the Manipur government to be clear on its modus operandi for implementing the NRC.
“We are ready for the NRC. Let them come. But we want to know the method of operation, the approach. How are you going to segregate the indigenous from the immigrants? Was there any biometric collection in the past 20-30 years?”
“NRC should not be done to target our people and harass them,” said Mang Khongsai, Home Secretary, KSO General Headquarters.
Also Read: More than 1,300 Myanmar nationals pour into Mizoram to escape clashes across border
Difference in NRC base year
Explaining the difference with the state government regarding the NRC base year, COCOMI spokesperson Khuraijam Athouba cited historical and demographic evidence for a fair and effective NRC process.
Drawing reference to the “contentious” Merger Agreement, when Manipur became part of India in 1949, Athouba said, “after the agreement was enacted and Manipur’s political status was downgraded to a Part C state under the administration of a Chief Commissioner, the following year (1950), the Foreigner’s Permit Act was abolished, and Manipur was opened to the entire country.”
The COCOMI leader argued that at the time of the merger, Manipur’s native population was 5.78 lakh, but the next census in 1961 showed a “significant and unnatural population increase” by about 40 percent (7.80 lakh). “And this growth continued at the same pace in the following censuses,” said Athouba, attributing it to the “ill management of India’s border and immigration administration”.
Tombing claimed that no family from Myanmar would ever migrate to Manipur. “Places like Tonzang and Chikha in Chin State are nearest to the border. From Churachandpur’s Behiang, Chikha is about 16 km, even nearer than Imphal. We would go there, buy what we needed and return. They would do the same. No one stayed.”
“The census started in Manipur from 1961. During those years, Churachandpur was under the Tamenglong sub division. In 1972, when Manipur attained statehood, some districts were created. Our elders paid the Hill House Taxes then, and the officials used twigs for counting: One family member, one stick. The sticks were bound together, but where would they keep all that, and could such a process ensure accuracy?” he asked.
The ITLF believes that it would not be possible to completely fence the Indo-Myanmar border because of the terrain. “…And we won’t allow it to happen,” asserted Tombing, even as border fencing remains one of the “core issues” mentioned by the CM.
In February, the Centre decided to scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR) between India and Myanmar to ensure the internal security of the country and to maintain the demographic structure of the Northeastern states bordering Myanmar. The Indo-Myanmar border is 1,468 km long, with about 398 km in Manipur.
On Thursday, the Kuki Inpi and Kuki Chiefs Association of Manipur had expressed resentment against the Centre’s “persistent effort” for fencing of the Indo-Myanmar border despite opposition from the Indigenous communities.
Speaking to ThePrint, writer and scholar Malem Ningthouja asserted border fencing is essential “to check cross-border infiltration, insurgency, and movement of contraband and drugs into India via Manipur.”
“From 1950 to 2004, FMR allowed those living within 40 km on either side of the Indo-Myanmar border to cross without any restrictions. Until 1968, one could cross border even without producing an identity card. The limit of crossing was reduced to 16 km from around 2004. It was formalised in 2010,” he said.
For decades, Manipur has grappled with resentment and insecurity among locals, because of disputes over land and resources, besides other factors that often led to ethnic conflicts and violence like the ongoing one.
Mary Jones Vung, Media Convenor of the Zomi Council Steering Committee (ZCSC), told ThePrint that the damage in the current ethnic conflict is “incomprehensible”. “We can never predict how long it takes… It’s in the hands of the almighty and the Central government to intervene at the earliest,” she said.
KSO seeks healthcare & education
Meanwhile, the KSO has raised concerns on the future of Kuki youngsters stating that people have been “deprived of basic needs and facilities”.
“People are buying fuel from Aizawl and selling it here — a litre of petrol costs Rs 120 in Churachandpur. Even the valley people are suffering, but at least, the state is with them and they can still survive. People here are living hand to mouth, and most of the good things are from donations. Earlier, we would rely on government facilities for healthcare, but now we are running out of medicine. We are sustaining through public funding in times of hardship,” Mang told ThePrint.
Mang said that medical students from the community who were studying in Imphal have lost out on a year. “We have a medical college, but no faculty.”
The KSO also raised concern on the presence of armed Kuki volunteers in Churachandpur town and its possible impact on the minds of children.
“We don’t have a proper education system here. Young boys and girls, who played with toys and dolls, are now playing with guns. In normal years, they used to play football. They have seen and heard of violence, and it’s all too much — if the environment was to remain the same, whether they like it or not, they will get influenced,” Mang told ThePrint, adding that the KSO is doing its best to help young people and youth move out to other states for better opportunities.
Both the ITLF and the KSO said they supported Biren Singh’s initiatives for the betterment of the tribal community. “We supported the Go to Hills project, because none of the CMs had visited before. In one odd programme, they might make an appearance, but that’s all. But now, we know his (Biren’s) true colours,” said Tombing.
Recalling the eviction in K Songjang village last year, the ITLF general secretary said it started only because of the CM’s initiative. The Kuki leaders had earlier alleged that the state was targeting legitimate residents by carrying out evictions in villages, which the government claimed sprung up on encroached reserved forest land.
“The hill areas are protected under Article 371C, under which, as a general rule, the valley people cannot buy land, but settle down on rent. The Forest Survey and Declaration of Reserved and Protected Forest was done without the consent of the tribal dwellers. This is how he (Biren) was exposed,” said Tombing.
For the Kuki-Zomi community, the continuation or ouster of the present CM “does not change ground realities”.
“The wounds are too deep. We cannot live together anymore. Like a couple, it is better to get divorced under separate administration than keep quarrelling. Our demand is nothing new. It is a manifestation of our decades-old discontentment against the discrimination we have been subjected to,” Zomi Students’ Federation (ZSF) general secretary Samuel Khaiminlum Taithul said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Retreating from anti-regime ops in Myanmar, 34 Meitei insurgents return to Manipur, ‘surrender’