It amazes me that some ‘experts’ in India are analyzing the current Meitei and Kuki political conflict from a majority hindu Meitei resource grab perspective. These viewpoints only reflect their petulant petty politics and do not help in anyway addressing the problem at hand. Government and Corporates must be resisted if they are found grabbing and destroying, land and forest. I also further argue that as part of their imagined homeland, it is the ‘Kuki’ elites who have imagined a viable Kuki State by dreaming to usurp these resources. Let me pick a few of the news items to explain my argument.
Sabrang a newsportal run by Teesta Setalvad in combating Communalism in India argue in a news item https://sabrangindia.in/behind-the-violence-grabbing-hill-lands-for-palm-oil-manufacture-manipur/ that the majority Meiteis are trying to become Schedule Tribe (ST) in order to grab forest lands that belong to the Kuki people so that Meitei people can grow Palm Oil. The article provides data by the Manipur government of the portions of land that the state was trying to grow these palm oil. 51,095 Hac in the Valley districts while only 11662 Hac in Churachandpur. This means to prove that Sabrang’s conclusion that Meiteis are trying to grab tribal land to grow Palm oil is not founded on even the data it has provided but it is constructed on an already biased frame of Majority grabbing tribal forest land as it happens in mainland India.
When the news of the PM’s Palm Oil Mission [National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) Targeting 10000 Sq. Km or 10 Lakh Hectares, bigger then the size of Sikkim, or almost the same area of Tripura state] was announced several environmentalist groups across India’s North East have organized themselves to counter the center’s move. These mobilizations are not just based on the global experience but also on the expanding plantations in Mizoram. Mizoram alone has 21,000 Hectare under palm and the government is planning to expand upto 60,000 Hectare. Land grab by corporations through the Mizoram government has been questioned by many within and from out side of Mizoram.
In the NE region, different forums and meetings took place against this expansion. For the first time farmers from Manipur made a declaration against palm oil. https://thefrontiermanipur.com/manipur-farmer-representatives-say-no-to-palm-oil-tree-plantation-in-state/ This is for the first time that such a declaration was made against Palm oil in the region. Sabrang does not have an inkling of what is happening on the resistances building up and how farmers, particularly Meitei farmers, are keenly concern about the plan of GOI which will make them subservient to corporations. Instead, Sabrang argues that majority Hindu Meitei people are trying to grab land in the hills to plant Palm Oil. To reiterate, Sabrang’s article is not based on the layers and decades of anti colonial and neo-colonial struggles in the state, but on some static frame originating possibly from their previous experiences in mainland india, and in their savior mode of tribal and marginal communities.
In other articles https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/mumbai-rich-mineral-gas-reserves-are-a-motive-for-manipur-conflict-say-activists/articleshow/102238395.cms?from=mdr, some of these same fanatics claim that the conflict is to do with Oil reserves. On a similar tone another army man with his ill-informed opinion argues that it is Oil that creates the conflict and that Meitei and Meitei government tried to grab land in the hills for oil. https://www.rediff.com/news/interview/lieutenant-general-shakti-gurung-oil-is-another-reason-for-clashes-in-manipur/20230811.htm
Soon another site joined in https://www.vijayvaani.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?aid=6544 and claims that “The genesis of the current crisis in Manipur lies in the discovery of Oil and Natural Gas in the southern, tribal regions of the State, over a decade ago. Early estimates suggest that Manipur is sitting on nearly five trillion cubic feet of oil, worth several trillion dollars. Manipur is also rich in minerals, namely, limestone, chromite, nickel, and copper, amongst others”.
All these articles claim that the root cause of the current conflict of Meiteis and Kukis are about the first trying to become ST and then grab the ‘kuki oil’. Funny as it sounds, but it looks like this has some buyers among those who ‘think’ alike in many parts of India. They are as misleading as claiming that “Meiteis are trying to grab the forest to plant more Poppy and to take over the drug business”. From my two decades of environmental activism, it has not even occurred even once to think in terms of some specific ethnic group, in this case the Meitei, trying to chase away another ethnic group to lay claim on those resources. Almost like the Palm Oil issue, the campaign began when the news leaked that one Jubilant Oil have been conducting exploration. Several organizations of both hills and valley have come together to stop the explorations. Most Meitei led organizations have spearheaded these struggles and most often the fight is against the state government signing MOUs with oil companies.
To add a note on the issue of Meiteis wanting to be ST, I must assert that to be a tribal and/or Indigenous is to be rooted and to be connected with nature and to resist any effort by government or by corporations to grab resources. If Meiteis become ‘tribal’, shouldn’t it mean that they will strengthen their effort to stop corporate take over of minerals, of our rivers and forest, and if this logic is conventional, then why is it that some mainland activist argues that if Meiteis become tribal it is to grab forest and other resources. Just to prove their static frame they loose all logic.
The successful campaign against Tipaimukh Dam on the Barak River was made possible due to the involvement of major organizations of Hmars, Meitei and Nagas in Manipur under the banner of Citizens Concern of Dams and Development, where I also took major coordinating roles, campaigned extensively both in upstream Manipur and downstream Assam and Bangladesh. There too Meiteis including major apex organizations worked hand in hand to stop the dams. There was no effort to grab land or rivers. This is because Meiteis in general think as a whole for Manipur. However the additional issue I wanted to raise here is on the creation of Hmar-ram or the Land of the Hmars as a separate territory or administrative unit that combines parts of Mizoram, Manipur and Assam. When I talked to one of the dam supporters of that time, the Hmar gentleman said it was because, by building the dam the Barak Water-Ways will be made possible and that it will have access to the ocean via Bangladesh. This will ensure that Hmars can access the world without passing Naga or Meiteis dominated areas. Now, this dream will still be there, possibly under the larger nomenclature of Kuki-Zo configuration.
I assume that those who are imagining the larger ‘Kuki state’ have meticulously mapped a territory for over a long period that includes these routes and resources. The other routes include what is commonly known as Moreh which is the designated Trans Asian Highway as well as the Trans Asian Railway. Another is Kaladan Waterway connecting the Sitwe Port with Mizoram. All these trade routes, water-ways, hydro-carbons, forest for Palm Oil etc are already under the ‘control’ of Kuki people and their armed groups as a way to establish their imagined homeland. It was planned this way and this was clearly spelt out when Prof Khan Suan Hausing talks to Karan Thapar [https://thewire.in/video/watch-a-separate-administration-is-the-best-solution-to-the-kuki-meitei-crisis-in-manipur] and in the 42.55 – 44 Mins of the interview Mr Suan clearly mentions of the well thought out idea of the economic viability of a Kuki state. It is more than clear that it is not the ‘Meitei people’ who are trying to grab Oil and all the natural resources but the Kuki elites who are planning to lay claim as part of the imagined Zale-‘n-gam.
It amazes me that some ‘experts’ in India are analyzing the current Meitei and Kuki political conflict from a majority hindu Meitei resource grab perspective. These viewpoints only reflect their petulant petty politics and do not help in anyway addressing the problem at hand. Government and Corporates must be resisted if they are found grabbing and destroying, land and forest. I also further argue that as part of their imagined homeland, it is the ‘Kuki’ elites who have imagined a viable Kuki State by dreaming to usurp these resources. Let me pick a few of the news items to explain my argument.
Sabrang a newsportal run by Teesta Setalvad in combating Communalism in India argue in a news item https://sabrangindia.in/behind-the-violence-grabbing-hill-lands-for-palm-oil-manufacture-manipur/ that the majority Meiteis are trying to become Schedule Tribe (ST) in order to grab forest lands that belong to the Kuki people so that Meitei people can grow Palm Oil. The article provides data by the Manipur government of the portions of land that the state was trying to grow these palm oil. 51,095 Hac in the Valley districts while only 11662 Hac in Churachandpur. This means to prove that Sabrang’s conclusion that Meiteis are trying to grab tribal land to grow Palm oil is not founded on even the data it has provided but it is constructed on an already biased frame of Majority grabbing tribal forest land as it happens in mainland India.
When the news of the PM’s Palm Oil Mission [National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) Targeting 10000 Sq. Km or 10 Lakh Hectares, bigger then the size of Sikkim, or almost the same area of Tripura state] was announced several environmentalist groups across India’s North East have organized themselves to counter the center’s move. These mobilizations are not just based on the global experience but also on the expanding plantations in Mizoram. Mizoram alone has 21,000 Hectare under palm and the government is planning to expand upto 60,000 Hectare. Land grab by corporations through the Mizoram government has been questioned by many within and from out side of Mizoram.
In the NE region, different forums and meetings took place against this expansion. For the first time farmers from Manipur made a declaration against palm oil. https://thefrontiermanipur.com/manipur-farmer-representatives-say-no-to-palm-oil-tree-plantation-in-state/ This is for the first time that such a declaration was made against Palm oil in the region. Sabrang does not have an inkling of what is happening on the resistances building up and how farmers, particularly Meitei farmers, are keenly concern about the plan of GOI which will make them subservient to corporations. Instead, Sabrang argues that majority Hindu Meitei people are trying to grab land in the hills to plant Palm Oil. To reiterate, Sabrang’s article is not based on the layers and decades of anti colonial and neo-colonial struggles in the state, but on some static frame originating possibly from their previous experiences in mainland india, and in their savior mode of tribal and marginal communities.
In other articles https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/mumbai-rich-mineral-gas-reserves-are-a-motive-for-manipur-conflict-say-activists/articleshow/102238395.cms?from=mdr, some of these same fanatics claim that the conflict is to do with Oil reserves. On a similar tone another army man with his ill-informed opinion argues that it is Oil that creates the conflict and that Meitei and Meitei government tried to grab land in the hills for oil. https://www.rediff.com/news/interview/lieutenant-general-shakti-gurung-oil-is-another-reason-for-clashes-in-manipur/20230811.htm
Soon another site joined in https://www.vijayvaani.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?aid=6544 and claims that “The genesis of the current crisis in Manipur lies in the discovery of Oil and Natural Gas in the southern, tribal regions of the State, over a decade ago. Early estimates suggest that Manipur is sitting on nearly five trillion cubic feet of oil, worth several trillion dollars. Manipur is also rich in minerals, namely, limestone, chromite, nickel, and copper, amongst others”.
All these articles claim that the root cause of the current conflict of Meiteis and Kukis are about the first trying to become ST and then grab the ‘kuki oil’. Funny as it sounds, but it looks like this has some buyers among those who ‘think’ alike in many parts of India. They are as misleading as claiming that “Meiteis are trying to grab the forest to plant more Poppy and to take over the drug business”. From my two decades of environmental activism, it has not even occurred even once to think in terms of some specific ethnic group, in this case the Meitei, trying to chase away another ethnic group to lay claim on those resources. Almost like the Palm Oil issue, the campaign began when the news leaked that one Jubilant Oil have been conducting exploration. Several organizations of both hills and valley have come together to stop the explorations. Most Meitei led organizations have spearheaded these struggles and most often the fight is against the state government signing MOUs with oil companies.
To add a note on the issue of Meiteis wanting to be ST, I must assert that to be a tribal and/or Indigenous is to be rooted and to be connected with nature and to resist any effort by government or by corporations to grab resources. If Meiteis become ‘tribal’, shouldn’t it mean that they will strengthen their effort to stop corporate take over of minerals, of our rivers and forest, and if this logic is conventional, then why is it that some mainland activist argues that if Meiteis become tribal it is to grab forest and other resources. Just to prove their static frame they loose all logic.
The successful campaign against Tipaimukh Dam on the Barak River was made possible due to the involvement of major organizations of Hmars, Meitei and Nagas in Manipur under the banner of Citizens Concern of Dams and Development, where I also took major coordinating roles, campaigned extensively both in upstream Manipur and downstream Assam and Bangladesh. There too Meiteis including major apex organizations worked hand in hand to stop the dams. There was no effort to grab land or rivers. This is because Meiteis in general think as a whole for Manipur. However the additional issue I wanted to raise here is on the creation of Hmar-ram or the Land of the Hmars as a separate territory or administrative unit that combines parts of Mizoram, Manipur and Assam. When I talked to one of the dam supporters of that time, the Hmar gentleman said it was because, by building the dam the Barak Water-Ways will be made possible and that it will have access to the ocean via Bangladesh. This will ensure that Hmars can access the world without passing Naga or Meiteis dominated areas. Now, this dream will still be there, possibly under the larger nomenclature of Kuki-Zo configuration.
I assume that those who are imagining the larger ‘Kuki state’ have meticulously mapped a territory for over a long period that includes these routes and resources. The other routes include what is commonly known as Moreh which is the designated Trans Asian Highway as well as the Trans Asian Railway. Another is Kaladan Waterway connecting the Sitwe Port with Mizoram. All these trade routes, water-ways, hydro-carbons, forest for Palm Oil etc are already under the ‘control’ of Kuki people and their armed groups as a way to establish their imagined homeland. It was planned this way and this was clearly spelt out when Prof Khan Suan Hausing talks to Karan Thapar [https://thewire.in/video/watch-a-separate-administration-is-the-best-solution-to-the-kuki-meitei-crisis-in-manipur] and in the 42.55 – 44 Mins of the interview Mr Suan clearly mentions of the well thought out idea of the economic viability of a Kuki state. It is more than clear that it is not the ‘Meitei people’ who are trying to grab Oil and all the natural resources but the Kuki elites who are planning to lay claim as part of the imagined Zale-‘n-gam.