Kukis, Meiteis back on edge; the trigger this time may have been felled trees

Why in the News

Camps under the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement are meant to hold registered Kuki cadres under watch, yet a surprise check found just one genuine cadre among the 159 registered at one camp. The check followed the Sunulok Hills killings of three Meitei men, which an official probe links to a dispute over felled trees. The killings have reopened tensions between Meiteis and Kukis in Manipur.

What is the SoO agreement, and what was it meant to do?

1. What it is: A tripartite ceasefire between the Centre, the State and an armed group. Like a supervised truce, cadres live in designated camps with weapons in monitored storage.
2. Why it was introduced: Kuki militancy emerged in the early 1990s, and the pact holds armed Kuki groups to a ceasefire. Groups under the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and the United People’s Front (UPF) signed it in 2008.
3. Lapsed pact: The agreement runs for fixed terms. It lapsed last month and has not been renewed.
4. The takeaway: The SoO works only if camps hold the cadres they register, because a missing cadre is an armed man outside any watch.

What triggered the Sunulok Hills killings?

1. Tree-felling complaint: Villagers told local militant groups that Meitei people were regularly felling trees in the Khongbal Sunulok Hills, on the border of Imphal East and Kangpokpi districts, and asked them to intervene.
2. Shooting of wood collectors: Militants and village volunteers allegedly stopped a vehicle of Meitei men collecting wood. When the men fled, the gunmen fired and killed three.
3. Suspected group: Officials suspect the Kuki National Front (Nehlun), which denies any role. The security establishment believes the aim was to scare or detain the men for ransom.
4. Arrests and weapons: Police arrested three village volunteers, who led investigators to eight hidden weapons. A forensic test is checking one recently fired gun.

What did the camp inspections find?

1. Sinai Camp check: Security forces checked the Sinai Camp in Semol village, near the killing site, designated for Kuki National Army (KNA) and Kuki Liberation Army (KLA) cadres.
2. Impostors in the camp: Of 18 people found, 17 used fabricated identities to pose as registered cadres, and all of them were arrested.
3. Camp taken over: Told to produce their missing members within two days, the groups could not, so security forces took over the camp.
4. Weapons seized: Security forces seized 24 firearms and 38 magazines. Some magazines and ammunition are missing and under investigation.
5. Wider pattern: Checks of other camps since Kuki militants killed six abducted Nagas in May found only 30-40% of registered militants present.

How are Kuki groups and the government responding?

1. Kuki-Zo Council threat: The Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) threatened to withdraw its Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from the State government and to ask SoO groups to reconsider cooperation.
2. Selective action charge: The KZC alleged that killings of Meitei and Naga civilians drew swift security action, but killings of Kuki-Zo civilians did not.
3. Union Territory demand: The KZC repeated its demand for a separate Union Territory with a legislature, a Centre-run unit with its own elected Assembly. It says the present arrangement has failed to protect the community.
4. Mending ties with Meiteis: Kuki groups called the killings ill-timed, since they have fought the Nagas for nine months and were repairing ties with the Meiteis.
5. Stipend as leverage: The groups must now establish every inmate’s identity and presence, or the government could withhold the mandated stipend paid to camp militants.

Challenges

1. Ghost cadres: Registered cadres missing from camps cannot be monitored, which defeats the purpose of designated camps.
2. Lapsed agreement: With the pact unrenewed, the government has no current terms to enforce.
3. Disputes on ethnic borders: Quarrels over wood near the buffer zones separating the two communities since the May 2023 violence can quickly turn deadly.

Way Forward

1. Biometric verification: Security forces should verify every camp inmate biometrically before the SoO is renewed.
2. Stipend tied to headcount: The government should pay the stipend only for cadres physically verified in camps.
3. Even-handed investigation: The Manipur Police should investigate killings of civilians from every community on the same timelines.

Conclusion

The SoO rests on the assumption that registered militants sit in watched camps, and the Sinai inspection shows how far that assumption has slipped. Whether the pact is renewed with verified headcounts, and whether the KZC carries out its threat, will decide if the ceasefire still restrains anyone.

Matching Previous Year Question

“No direct PYQ traced in the provided files. Thematic PYQ: [2017, GS3, 10 marks] The north-eastern region of India has been infested with insurgency for a very long time. Analyze the major reasons for the survival of armed insurgency in this region.”