Guwahati: A new transnational twist in Manipur’s Kuki-Meitei ethnic conflict has surfaced after the Hindu reported on a National Investigation Agency chargesheet that accused a “China-Myanmar module” of the NSCN (I-M) of stirring up trouble in the state. While the agency has claimed that the NSCN (I-M) helped cadres from banned Meitei groups infiltrate the state, the extremist group has hit back, alleging that Indian security forces are supporting Kuki insurgents in Myanmar to target Meitei rebels seeking shelter there.
The Hindu report, published Tuesday, quoted an NIA chargesheet, filed in March, alleging that an NSCN (I-M) module facilitated the infiltration of Meitei rebels “to exploit the current ethnic conflict in Manipur — with a larger goal to destabilise the State and wage a war against the Government of India”.
However, in a statement released Thursday, the NSCN (I-M) not only called the NIA’s charges “misleading” and “vicious”, it also levelled some allegations regarding the role of Indian forces’ in the ongoing conflict in Myanmar. The Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, or NSCN (I-M), is an overground militant group that is in ceasefire mode with the government of India.
“NSCN… had signed ceasefire with GOI and engaged in political talks for the last 27 years. Ironically GOI agencies keep hitting below the belt,” the statement alleged.
Further, it referenced the Kuki insurgent group in Myanmar— Kuki National Army (Burma), or KNA (B)— as well as the People’s Defence Force (PDF) in Tamu that were involved in clashes with the Myanmar military at Myo Thit in the country’s Sagaing Region last week.
The NSCN-IM claims India is “supporting” the KNA(B) to fight against Meitei rebels stationed in Myanmar. They also allege that Indian forces are bombing their positions in Myanmar daily, and waging a “proxy war”— “in the name of KNA(B)”.
The reason for this, it claimed, was that the Indian security forces “do not want Naga Army to be stationed in the Myo Thit (Tab) area in Myanmar.”
While sources could not confirm NSCN’s presence at Myo Thit, they said few splinter groups of the Naga outfit exist alongside camps of the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA)—a Myanmar insurgent group fighting for statehood— in Sagaing Region.
Myanmar still provides safe haven to the Indian insurgent groups with rebel camps located farther to the north of Moreh and Tamu along the Indo-Myanmar border, intelligence sources said. Insurgent camps also exist on the southern Myanmar side of the thickly forested border, and north and northwest of Singkaling Hkamti in the Sagaing Region’s Hkampti district.
The current developments suggest a two-way problem—the Manipur conflict spilling over into neighbouring Myanmar, and the impact of Myanmar’s strife on Indian insurgent groups operating there.
What did NIA say?
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has accused a Myanmar-based module of NSCN-IM of extending support to banned Meitei insurgent groups KYKL and PLA to infiltrate Manipur, according to the Hindu report.
The NIA added that the NSCN-IM “promised a safe passage along with arms, ammunition, explosives, and other terrorist hardware to Manipur-based terrorist outfits and proscribed organisations.”
According to the report, the NIA filed a chargesheet on 7 March in a Guwahati court against five people who were arrested last July in Manipur. These suspects allegedly “criminally conspired with intent to carry out violent terror attacks targeting the rival Kuki-Zo community with prohibited arms and ammunition”.
Ethnic clashes between the Kuki and Meitei communities in Manipur broke out last May, and though the intensity of the conflict has ebbed and flowed since then, the state’s situation remains volatile. Adding to the tensions is the reported resurgence of banned Valley-based Insurgent Groups (VBIGs) in the region, which are reported to have returned from Myanmar.
Myanmar allegations
The NSCN, on its part, has claimed that Indian authorities are “allowing Kuki militant groups operating in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district to enter Myanmar and fight with the Meitei revolutionary groups.”
In its statement, the NSCN further claimed that Kuki insurgent groups have sealed off the international border along the Namlee and Wanglee areas in Manipur’s Kamjong district.
“No one is allowed to enter Myanmar and no one is allowed to come out from Myanmar. Even people from civil society organisations are put under heavy restriction,” it claimed.
Referencing the conflict in Myanmar’s Saigang, the statement suggested that the NSCN had maintained a distance.
“(The) Naga Army had not taken a single step to fight against the KNA (B). Neither did we find the reason to go against PDF,” the statement said.
The 7-11 May operations in Sagaing Region by the PDF Tamu and KNA-B, along with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), led to the surrender of at least 21 Myanmar Army soldiers at the Myo Thit camp, roughly 16 km from Tamu township on the Indo-Myanmar border.
Sources in Myanmar told ThePrint that approximately 400-600 individuals were present at the Myo Thit camp during the attack. These included Myanmar Army soldiers, police, pyusawhtis (pro-military villagers), cadres of the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA)—a Myanmar insurgent group fighting for statehood—and the Valley Based Insurgent Groups (VBIGs) or Meitei rebel outfits.
However, it has not been ascertained yet which of the VBIGs were present at the Myothit camp during the attack. Sources added it could likely be the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
The soldiers surrendered with weapons on 10 May, while the remaining cadres fled to the nearby Menta (Mangshi) camp, according to sources in Myanmar. Two PDF cadres were killed during the attack.
The PDF comprises armed groups that emerged across Myanmar’s townships and regions in mid-2021 following the coup. They are recognised by the National Unity Government (NUG), a government-in-exile formed in opposition to the military junta. The Myanmar government considers both the NUG and PDFs “illegal and terrorist organisations”.
There are two Kuki villages close to the Menta camp — Teijang and Tungjo, nearly 18 km from Tamu Township. Since the attacks, villagers have escaped towards Tamu and areas close to the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur, sources told ThePrint.
On Thursday morning, a KNA-B cadre was killed in an attack by the pro-junta forces at Teijang village, about 2-3km from Menta. Sources in the neighbouring country said troops of Myanmar army were also engaged in the operation, firing mortar bombs from a distance.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)
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