Jamkhojang Misao, founder director of Manipur's Kangpokpi-based InSIDE-North East
A social worker in Manipur whose non-profit work was billed as a success story in helping youth and women in the border state affected by gun violence, has run into a huge controversy over his comments in a YouTube interview in which he was heard talking about the "need for escalating the Manipur crisis" in order to keep the demand for a separate administration "alive".
Jamkhojang Misao (aka Misao Hejang Hangmi aka Hejang Misao), founder director of the Integrated Social And Institutional Development for Empowerment (InSIDE-North East), in an interview on the YouTube channel 'Nampi Media Jampilal' said the struggle for a separate land has been going on since his forefathers' time, and despite having multiple factions of insurgents with numerous different demands, all of them finally managed to agree on one issue - separate administration.
"However, the separate administration movement has reduced now. We will not get this chance anymore, and such an opportunity will not come again. We should use this moment to create an even more chaotic situation, so that anyone who sees us will say we can never live together," Mr Misao said, referring to the Manipur ethnic violence between the Meitei community and over a dozen distinct tribes collectively known as Kuki, who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur.
He spoke in his dialect in the interview, which was translated into English and corroborated by three sources from the Kuki tribes for NDTV. In a statement, Mr Misao has said his words were "deliberately twisted and misinterpreted." He has not, however, released a full verbatim transcript of the interview in English.
"After the Manipur violence, the armed groups have come together on one demand. This is a work of God. But the Meiteis don't want to give us a separate administration. SoO groups also signed that Manipur territorial integrity won't be harmed. But God's plan seems to be about giving the Kukis a nation, and I feel it is there. If there was no violence, we would not have got a chance to demand a separate administration," Mr Misao said, referring to nearly two dozen Kuki-Zo militant groups that have signed the controversial suspension of operations (SoO) agreement, which lapsed in February this year. One of the clauses in the SoO agreement says Manipur's territorial integrity will not be touched.
Calls to the phone numbers mentioned on InSIDE-North East's website went unanswered.
He was among a group of people in the social service sector who was selected to meet former President Ram Nath Kovind in January 2020. He highlighted InSIDE-North East's 'Gun2Pen' programme -- among many other projects - which the non-profit said helped over 5,000 young people find the right path.
"Deliberately Twisted and Misinterpreted"
Mr Misao in a statement said his words were "deliberately twisted and misinterpreted." He said the media report is a "deliberate attempt to silence people's voices or curtail the freedom of speech in democracy."
"I always condemn any form of violence. For that reason, I said the armed movement has to come to an end and the separate administration demand has to be a public movement. This is my personal opinion and has nothing to do with the organisation I am with. I even cited the Bodo public movement in the discussion," Mr Misao said in the statement.
"My statement on making the demand alive doesn't mean violence, but through democratic means such as rally, democratic form [of] agitation or protest etc which were clearly audible in the discussion. These elements who twisted my words are the ones who rather want Manipur to boil and are against all democratic procedures by further creating misunderstanding among the communities," he said, adding it is the right of all citizens to live in peace and dignity with freedom as enshrined in the Constitution.
In the YouTube discussion, Mr Misao, who belongs to Any Kuki Tribe (AKT) that was added to the Scheduled Tribes' list in 2003, continued: "It's all God's work... this indicates God has a plan for us. The buffer zone is the evidence of the separation. Despite all these gains, and God's help, it seems we are unable to use the opportunity. The Meiteis started it, burnt our houses, killed our people, paraded women naked."
"If they have created the situation, how do we escalate it more and more, and keep it alive, then our demand will be seriously considered? Now, the separate administration demand's momentum is dying slowly. Even the Prime Minister in parliament says normalcy has come in Manipur. Schools are running, markets are running, government offices are also running, those who are going to grant us separate administration themselves say normalcy has returned," Mr Misao said in the interview.
"Even if we don't agree with the claim by the government that normalcy has returned, New Delhi has already declared normalcy. So, in a place where there is normalcy, who is going to take up our issues? When the government in parliament says there is normalcy, we need to do something to show evidence that there is no normalcy. That's what's required," Mr Misao said.
Information on the central government's non-profit organisation (NPO) database 'Darpan' shows Mr Misao registered the Integrated Social And Institutional Development for Empowerment in February 2013 in Manipur's Kangpokpi district.
The public database contains unique identity numbers of NPOs. This unique ID number is mandatory if an NPO wants to take funds from government departments and ministries. Mr Misao's NPO has been allotted a unique identity number - MN/2017/0177675 - which it can use to apply for grants from government departments and ministries.
"It is unfortunate that we are unable to take advantage of the situation. Whether armed groups or civil society groups or individuals, we have to introspect, take a look at the situation again as there is no complete normalcy yet. The world should know there will be no peace in Manipur without a solution. For leaders of the world and India to see, we have to do something so that they will know that Manipur needs a solution for peace," the social worker from Kangpokpi district said.
He blamed leaders for the weakening of the resolve to demand a separate administration.
"... If God has shown us the path, the leaders should have guided the public forward... There was a guy in Nagaland, C Singson, who asked the Indian interlocutor in Bangkok during the Naga talks, why is the Kuki issue never brought up?
"The Indian interlocutor replied Kukis have never been an issue, and there is nothing to discuss about them. However, the Meiteis have with their actions against the Kukis, who never really had any grievances, have created a situation which has made the Indian government realise the Kukis have an issue.
"Not only the Indian government, the whole world has now recognised the Kukis' problem. That problem has to be escalated more and more. If that problem is not escalated, then the demand we are putting forward is not politically strong and reasonable. The Meiteis have made us politically strong. But today, we don't know how to take it forward. That's very unfortunate," Mr Misao said.
Mr Misao has said his reply in the YouTube channel to the question on separate administration was based on the "ground realities where there is physical, geographical and emotional separation."
"The stark reality is that all the facilities in Imphal cannot be accessed by the Kukis - the airport, medical, colleges, market, government offices etc. Babies are dying, pregnant mothers are not getting medical care; aged and people suffering from non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, heart patients, patients needing dialysis and many others are dying because they cannot access the medical facilities in Imphal. One cannot cross the buffer zone and all the development programmes are not taking place in the Kuki-dominated areas. Given such circumstances, I was saying that separate administration as demanded by the Kukis will be the solution for peace in Manipur," Mr Misao said in the statement.
There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes between the Meiteis and the Kuki tribes have killed over 250 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.
The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category.
The Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar's Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.