“Kuki-Zo” Wrong Term To Describe Us, Say 3 Manipur MLAs From Different Tribes

Three MLAs from among the 10 who have been demanding a separate administration carved out of Manipur have clarified that they want their own tribes to be called by their correct names, instead of being associated only with the term “Kuki-Zo”.

The 10 MLAs including seven from the BJP have so far been described in the press and social media as belonging to the “Kuki-Zo” tribes. The three MLAs, however, in statements in the last two days said the term “Kuki-Zo” is not adequate to refer to their own tribes.

The three MLAs from the Hmar, Paite, and Vaiphei tribes who issued the statements are LM Khaute, Ngursanglur Sanate, and Vungzagin Valte.

“… I would like to reaffirm that the most suitable and inclusive term to describe our community in the media, social media and so on is ‘Kuki-Zomi-Hmar… I cannot accept anything that excludes ‘Zomi’ and any other term that describes our identity in such press statements,” Mr Khaute said in the statement.

Mr Sanate said he will not endorse any platform, organisation or statement that excludes the term “Hmar” tribe.

The third MLA, Mr Valte, in a strongly worded statement said it has become “pivotal” for him to declare that he is from the Paite tribe belonging to the Zomi community, that Zomi is an accepted nomenclature as it reflects the “true historical, culture, and social identity of our people.”

“… The recent usage of ‘Kuki-Zo’ is perceived by many within my represented communities as non-inclusive and assimilative… Therefore, I cannot, in good conscience, accept and endorse any term that doesn’t respect the individuality and dignity of all the groups that form the fabric of my constituency,” said Mr Valte.

The three MLAs’ statements come days after a section of the Thadou tribes represented by the Manipur-based Thadou Students’ Association (TSA) formed a global platform to look into critical issues facing the community, particularly in Manipur.

The TSA has said Thadou is a distinct tribe and people with their own distinct identity, language and culture. “… At some point other people may have called Thadous with different names… that does not change the fact that we are Thadou and we should be called Thadou respectfully,” the TSA said in a statement on August 5.

Manipur BJP spokesperson T Michael Lamjathang Haokip, who is from the Thadou tribe, in a post on X said the three Hmar, Paite, and Vaiphei MLAs’ statements “have explicitly stated they are not Kuki, raising questions about the true identity of Kuki.”

“… The remaining 7 MLAs should adhere to their tribe identities to reach a common consensus. The individual statements of the 3 MLAs signify their rejection of Kuki supremacists… The disunited Zo tribal groups, united only in their desire to remove the Chief Minister and hostility against the Meitei, must cease targeting innocent lives and work towards a peaceful solution. The proxy unity aimed at ousting the Chief Minister for political gains should not come at the cost of innocent lives and communal harmony,” Mr Michael said.

During the discussion and voting on demands for grants on the last day of the Manipur assembly session on August 12, Chief Minister N Biren Singh had said “violence was perpetrated by some, not all, people.”

“Not every Thadou, Paite, Hmar had a hand in the violence. You have seen, Hmar people spoke so well (in the peace meeting), we had tears, they too had tears, that all this happened due to misunderstandings,” Mr Singh had said, referring to the August 1 peace meeting between Meitei and the Hmar tribe representatives in Jiribam, where they agreed to work for normalcy nearly two months after ethnic violence that began over a year ago reached the district bordering Assam.

The clashes between the valley-dominant Meitei community and nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis – a term given by the British in colonial times – who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, has killed over 220 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.

The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the nearly two dozen tribes that share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.