GUWAHATI
A global body of Thadous has urged Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh and the people of the State, specifically the non-tribal Meitei community, to stop calling them ‘Kuki’.
The Thadou Community International (TCI), formed on August 3, also said the Kuki community was created fraudulently and listed as a Scheduled Tribe of Manipur in 2003.
The Thadous are the largest of the tribes of Manipur listed under the Kuki group. The bid to assert their non-Kuki identity follows a similar move by at least six smaller tribes almost a year ago amid the ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo people.
Kukis | Fight for land and identity
The conflict broke out on May 3, 2023, leaving 226 people dead and more than 60,000 displaced. The six minor tribes that sought not to be clubbed as either Kuki or Naga are Aimol, Chiru, Chothe, Kharam, Koireng, and Kom.
“We begin by honouring the memory of all those who have fallen victim to the tragic violence in Manipur and extend our deepest empathy to the survivors and their families. Our fervent hope is for a future defined by peace, justice, non-violent resolutions, and respect for human rights,” the TCI said in an open letter to Mr. Singh and the people of Manipur on Friday (August 9, 2024.)
“Manipur is experiencing one of the darkest periods in its history due to the devastating violence that broke out on May 3, 2023, causing untold suffering, especially to the Thadous. While the situation has improved in recent months, much work remains for resettlement, healing, and ensuring long-lasting peace,” the organisation said.
The TCI underlined Manipur’s multiethnic tapestry but pointed out it has been the home of “the original 29 linguistic and cultural tribes” apart from the Meiteis and Pangals or Meitei Muslims.
The history of the Kuki insurgency in Manipur
These tribes, according to the Scheduled Tribes Lists Modification Order, 1956, are Aimol, Anal, Angami, Chiru, Chothe, Gangte, Hmar, Kabui (Rongmei), Kacha Naga, Khoirao, Koireng, Kom, Lamgang, Any Mizo (Lushai), Maram, Maring, Mao, Monsang, Moyon, Paite, Purum, Ralte, Sema, Simte, Suhte, Tangkhul, Thadou, Vaiphei, and Zou.
Distinct identity
“The Thadous have a rich heritage and history, always known as Thadou, with no prefix or suffix. Thadous are recorded as Thadou in all censuses of Manipur since 1881, with a population of 215,913 in the 2011 census, and they have always been the single-largest tribe in Manipur,” the TCI said.
“We are deeply passionate about our identity and name, which holds profound meaning for our past, present, and future. We insist on being called correctly as Thadou, not by any other name, which undermines our unique identity and indigeneity,” it said.
“We would like to state that the Thadou tribe is distinct and any confusion with other tribes surmount to being racist, abusive, disrespectful, traumatising and it puts the Thadou tribe in poor light. It may be mentioned here that we are part and parcel of the larger family group called the Zo or Mizo conglomerate. Any name calling beside Zo or Mizo will not be tolerated and it will be perceived as a wilful and intentional insult to demean the Thadou tribe,” the TCI said.
It requested the Chief Minister to consider issuing a statement in the 60-member Manipur Assembly underlining the distinct identity of the Thadous.
In an earlier statement on August 4, the TCI’s convenors Kapchungnung Tado and Chongboi Haokip said the Thadous and other kindred tribes under the “indigenous name Zomi or Mizo in India” have never accepted or identified themselves as Kuki.
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“Kuki is a colonial terminology, first used loosely by the British colonisers from what is believed to be a Bengali reference to the migratory cuckoo bird or coolie, generally meaning slave, labourer, or porter, originally to refer to some unspecified groups of primitive people, not necessarily of the same people, in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of (present-day) Bangladesh,” the TCI said.
The duo said the objectives of the TCI included addressing serious concerns over the widespread violation of civil and human rights of Thadou people by anti-Thadou elements, particularly the Kuki supremacists.
It said the Kuki tribe was created ‘fraudulently’ and listed as a separate Scheduled Tribe of Manipur in 2003 under the name of ‘Any Kuki Tribe’ for “political control”.
“We support the proposition that this Any Kuki Tribe needs to be deleted before it is too late to secure the collective interests of all the indigenous or native people of Manipur, including the original 29 scheduled tribes under the 1956 Order,” the TCI said.
