In news–In a surprise move, the Manipur government withdrew from the SoO agreement with two hill-based tribal insurgent groups, alleging that they were “influencing agitation among forest encroachers”.
About SoO agreement-
- The SoO pact was signed on August 22, 2008, with the primary objective of initiating political dialogue.
- Talks are ongoing under AB Mathur, former special secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), as the interlocutor.
- The Kuki outfits who were initially demanding a separate Kuki state have come down to a ‘Kukiland territorial council’, which would have financial and administrative powers independent of the Manipur Assembly and government.
- There are nearly 30 Kuki insurgent groups in Manipur, of which 25 are under tripartite Suspension of Operations (SoO) with the Government of India and the state.
- As many as 17 are under the umbrella group Kuki National Organisation (KNO), and eight are under the United People’s Front (UPF).
What are the terms of the SoO pact?
- While the period of the SoO agreement is one year, it is extendable according to the progress of its implementation.
- To oversee the effective implementation of the SoO pact, a committee called the Joint Monitoring Group (JMG), with representatives from all the signatories, has been formed.
- The important terms under the pact are that security forces, including state and central forces, are not to launch any operations, nor can the underground groups.
- The signatories of UPF and KNO shall abide by the Constitution of India, the laws of the land and the territorial integrity of Manipur.
- They are prohibited from committing all kinds of atrocities, extortion, among others.
- The militant cadres are to be confined in designated camps identified by the Government.
- Arms are deposited in a safe room under a double-locking system. The groups are given arms only to guard their camps and protect their leaders.
- As a rehabilitation package, the UG cadres living in the designated camps are given a monthly stipend of Rs 5000.
- Financial assistance is also being provided to maintain the designated camps.
The Kuki insurgency-
- While the Naga movement is the country’s longest-running insurgency, underground Kuki groups, too, have fought the Indian government for an ‘independent Kuki homeland’, spread across Manipur.
- The Kuki insurgency gained momentum after ethnic clashes with the Nagas of Manipur in the early 1990s, with the Kuki arming themselves against Naga aggression.
- While the two tribes have shared a hostile relationship since colonial times, things came to a head in the 1990s when the Naga-Kuki clashes took place.
- Land that the Kukis claim to be their “homeland” in the Manipur hills overlaps with the imagined Naga homeland of Greater Nagaland or Nagalim.
- As many as 115 Kuki men, women and children were believed to have been killed by the NSCN-IM in Tengnoupal in 1993 — a day still marked by the Kuki as ‘black day’.
Further reading https://journalsofindia.com/kuki-tribe/
Source: The Indian Express
