By Richard Gangte
Introduction – One People One Nation Unity is Not a Choice But Survival
The survival of a nation depends entirely on its unity. For us Kukis this is not just a nice slogan to use in a seminar it is a matter of political existence. History has taught us that the most effective weapon used against the Kuki people was never the gun or military operation but the colonial policy of divide and rule. Since Indian independence and more systematically and cleverly since 1956 both the Manipur Government in Imphal and the Central Government in Delhi have perfected this same British strategy to fragment weaken and to erase Kuki political identity.
1956 – The First Assault How One Kuki Nation Was Split into 20 Plus Tribes in Manipur
The greatest assault on Kuki unity did not begin on the battlefield with bullets it began on paper with a pen. Before 1947 all British administrative records historical documents and even independent Indian records recognized us in Manipur as one nation under one single political identity called Kuki. All clans all dialects all chiefs were one including Bawm Lushei Chorei Hmar Darlong Chawngthu and others.
Especially in the context of Kuki people in Manipur after 1956 the government brought a new policy. They started recognizing our clans and our dialect groups as separate Scheduled Tribes. In one single stroke one indivisible people was officially fragmented into more than twenty tribes. Paite Vaiphei Zou Gangte Simte Aimol Chiru Kom Anal Maring Koireng Hmar and many more were all carved out from the same Kuki stock from the same root.
Let us not be fooled. This was never about administrative convenience. This was a deliberate calculated political project. By breaking one Kuki into twenty they reduced our numbers on paper they broke our collective vote bank and they destroyed our legitimate claim as an indigenous nation of this land. The British physically left in 1947 but their divide and rule policy remained more powerful than ever. What could not be achieved by fighting the Kukis in war was finally achieved by dividing them in census.
Same Family Three Certificates – The Absurd Division
The absurdity and the cruelty of this division is clearest when you look within the same dialect family itself. Take for example the Haokip Mate Guite Thadou Kilong Lhungdim and other clans who speak exactly the same dialect who share the same customary law who trace their genealogy from same ancestor and share same history. They were divided into three artificial tribal categories – Thadou Tribe Mate Tribe and Any Kuki Tribes or AKT.
I have seen this absurdity with my own eyes in Churachandpur Tengnoupal Chandel Ukhrul Kamjong and Kangpokpi where real brothers from the same father and same mother hold different tribe certificates. How can one family have three tribes if not by a designed conspiracy The purpose was very clear to destroy the numerical strength of the Kukis in Manipur and to create internal competition for ST reservation for government jobs for leadership in civil societies so that Kukis fight among themselves instead of fighting unitedly for their political future.
Delhis Black Sheep Game – 20 Plus Years of Talks With No Solution
If Manipur Government played the open game of division the Government of India played the role of the black sheep pretending to be our protector and guardian while acting as the main divider. And the best proof of this black sheep game is the more than twenty years long political talks between KNO UPF and the Government of India.
For more than two decades these talks have produced no political solution no resolution and not even a clear roadmap for the future. We have only seen extensions after extensions SoO renewals after renewals. Why has the worlds largest democracy failed to solve a political issue for more than twenty years Because for Delhi failure itself is the policy. As long as the talks continue without solution the Kuki issue remains managed controlled and contained never resolved.
Controlled Leadership Silenced Public
The control mechanism is not difficult to understand if we speak the truth. The Government of India controls KNO and UPF through money through monthly funding through stipends and through SoO camp politics. And KNO and UPF in turn control the Kuki public through gun power through fear and through intimidation on the ground.
Because of this chain of control the common public cannot question the civil society cannot rise independently and the genuine political aspiration of the ordinary Kuki people is held completely hostage. By sustaining this controlled system of dependent leadership Delhi ensures that Kuki history and identity continue to be distorted and Kuki unity is never allowed to become a real independent political force that can challenge them.
New Divide and Rule – One Area Visit One Tribe Fund
Even today as we speak in 2026 the Manipur Government and the Centre Government continue to play the same old divide and rule game through a new method called selective politics visiting one Kuki area but deliberately not visiting all Kuki areas recognizing one tribes demand but rejecting anothers releasing development funds and projects for one tribe but denying it for all other Kuki tribes.
This selective appeasement is not a mistake or oversight. It is a designed strategy to create jealousy division and competition within the Kuki family. When you give to one brother and ignore the other brother you plant the seed of division. A leadership that is busy fighting for selective fund can never unite for a collective political solution.
Conclusion – Reclaiming Kuki Nationhood is Our Only Future
The time has come for every Kuki whether you are young or old to understand this historical game. From 1956 to 2026 the policy has never changed only its form and its name has changed. Yesterday it was creation of separate tribes in ST list today it is selective funding selective area visits and selective recognition. Yesterday it was Manipur Government directly dividing us today it is Delhi using the system of KNO UPF talks and SoO politics to control us.
Let us be very clear. A divided Kuki can never demand a political solution from Delhi. A confused Kuki who does not know his own history and who is ashamed to call himself Kuki can never claim his political right. And a dependent leadership that survives only on stipends and camp funding and needs Delhis permission to survive can never challenge Delhi for our future.
Therefore unity is our only weapon and our only hope. The twenty plus tribes listed in the ST schedule are not separate peoples we are one people one blood one genealogy one customary law one destiny one nation. Our forefathers did not fight the mighty British Empire as twenty small separate tribes. They fought as Kukis they died as Kukis and they were recorded as Kukis in history.
Our future will also be secured only as Kukis. True unity and true political future will only return when we boldly and proudly reclaim Kuki as our national identity based on British historical records based on our genealogy and based on our political identity. Let the government certificates say Paite Hmar Vaiphei Aimol Gangte AKT for survival but let the heart let the blood and let our politics say one thing only Kuki. Let us unite as Kuki Nation.
Remember we the Kuki never demand a country or sovereignty but a State or Union Territory under Indian unity. We will stand for this until we achieve it this is the last and the only survival political demand.
God Bless our Nation God Bless the Kuki community. Jai Hind Jai India
