Roving Periscope: Over 900 Kuki infiltrators from Myanmar may reignite the Christian militancy in the Northeast
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Four months after the then Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed hinted at a ‘Western’ conspiracy to potentially cobble together a new Christian nation from the adjoining areas of Bangladesh, India, and Myanmar in the Northeastern region, her fears may be coming true with the reported infiltration of over 900 heavily-armed Kuki militants into a restive Manipur last week.
And, to politically destabilize South Asia, mainly India, to create a bulwark against an expansionist China, militants of different hues are being brought together by the West. For example, while the anti-India Jammat-e-Islami now controls the lame duck Mohammed Yunus government, the America-based Kuki Zo organization, North American Manipur Tribal Association (NAMTA), joined hands with pro-Khalistani radicals in Canada, according to the media reports.
For the first time in this subtle move to ‘regroup’ parts of the British relics in the Indian subcontinent into a “Christian nation”, the Kukis have become fulcrum.
Before their mass conversion in the early 20th century to Christianity by Welsh Baptist missionaries, the Chin, Kuki, and Mizo peoples were animists, even practicing headhunting, among other primitive rituals. After the British defeated them in the Anglo-Kuki War of 1917–1919, active Christian missionaries rapidly converted them to Christianity, transforming their ideas, mentality, and social practices at the cost of their traditions and customs, syncretism, and nationalism.
The militant Christian Kukis, who migrated from Burma (now Myanmar) into the hilly areas and dislodged the native Meitis into the valleys, comprise over 30 percent of the Manipuri population. They follow Protestantism, especially Baptism, a leading denomination in the US receiving huge donations from the retired, prosperous Christians worried about the erosion of their faith in America and ‘compensatory conversion’ in the “Third World.” Even the Roman Catholics have complained about the aggressive Baptist poaching!
The struggle of Manipur’s native Meitis to reclaim their hilly homes has in the last couple of years transformed this Krishnaite sect following state into a battleground for Christian missionaries. India’s ‘secular’ political parties are aware of this socio-religious battle. They are merely targeting the Narendra Modi government, but none is speaking the truth because of political reasons.
Last week, according to media reports quoting alerted intelligence and security officials, more than 900 trained and heavily armed Christian Kuki terrorists from Myanmar infiltrated Manipur to refuel the unrest. They are trained in using drone-based bombs, projectiles, missiles, and jungle warfare.
“They are reportedly grouped in units of 30 members each and currently scattered in the periphery of Manipur. They are likely to launch multiple coordinated attacks on Meitei villages around 28 September 2024,” the reports said.
Alarmed, police have banned people from flying drones without permission, Kuldeep Singh, Security Advisor to the Manipur Government, said.
The latest security concern came a day after the Indian Army, in a joint operation with the Manipur Police, recovered a large cache of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in the hilly regions of Imphal East district, the reports said.
The operation took place near the villages of Bongjang and Itham, preventing a potentially devastating threat to the life and property of the locals.
The northeastern state has been rocked by sporadic violence for several months since 2023, between the local Meiteis and the infiltrating Kukis, ostensibly over quotas and economic benefits, but actually because of religious conflict.
On its part, the Kuki Inpi Manipur Organization claimed that constant attempts to portray the Kuki Zo tribals as having transborder links were both “ridiculous and appalling.”
It questioned Kuldeep Singh for his statement regarding the reported infiltration of 900 Kuki militants from Myanmar.
Singh, on Friday last, stated, “There has been an input circulating for three to four days in national media that around 900 Kuki militants have entered Manipur and they may attack any day around September 28.”
He added that a “strategic operation group meeting” was held on September 18, where this information was shared with various security agencies, and it was also being communicated to different intelligence agencies.
Reacting to it, the Kuki outfit on Sunday said the allegations reflected a “grievous act of misinformation designed to target the Kuki-Zo community”.
It claimed that the Meitei groups, often referred to as Valley-Based Insurgent Groups, had infiltrated the Manipur valley and were responsible for coordinated attacks against the Kuki-Zo people in collusion with the police.
“The deliberate attempts to demonize the Kuki-Zo community are deeply concerning,” it stated.
