Manipur: In These Tribal Constituencies,바카라 웹사이트Insurgents Bat For BJP

Distributing cash or alcohol ahead of elections is no new practice in India for ‘buying’ votes but tea fannings and sugar for a month?바카라 웹사이트

“Burmese tea and sugar,” said Mangboi Kipgen, resident of Govajang, a small, hilly and impoverished Kuki village along India라이브 바카라 unfenced border with Myanmar in Tengnoupal constituency in the eponymous district in Manipur, when asked if any party came to campaign in their village for the assembly elections.바카라 웹사이트

Only the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)라이브 바카라바카라 웹사이트local workers came and gave tea fannings and sugar for a month to every family, Kipgen said. 바카라 웹사이트 바카라 웹사이트

Tegnoupal is among the 20 constituencies in the hills districts that will vote in the second of the two-phase assembly election, on March 5. As of February 26, there was no sign of any electoral campaign in the Kuki tribe-dominated Govajang, just like several other villages on the hills in this remote
바카라 웹사이트constituency.바카라 웹사이트

The villagers need, above everything else, roads and mobile networks. “Indian networks do not work here. We use Burmese (Myanmar라이브 바카라) SIM cards when at home and Indian SIMs when outside the village,” said Thangmang Haokip, secretary of the village welfare committee.바카라 웹사이트

However, they could not place their demand when BJP workers came seeking votes. No one asked them what they needed.바카라 웹사이트

Kipgen and Haokip were content with the fact that these demands are not part of their electoral bargains. Kuki leaders of higher standing – including insurgent groups – have pledged their support to the BJP for a ‘greater cause’ and literally no other party has managed to carry out a campaign in
바카라 웹사이트the Kuki dominated areas where the insurgent groups hold clout.바카라 웹사이트

“It will not be an election… a selection has been made,” said a Meitei shopkeeper at Moreh town, unwilling to be named.바카라 웹사이트

“We will request the MLA after he wins,” said Kigpen. The village is also likely to be relocated for fencing the border and the바카라 웹사이트local residents are worried about the compensation and rehabilitation they would receive. “But, of course, these are small issues that can be discussed later,” he said. 바카라 웹사이트

Govajang is no exception.

There were no signs of any electoral campaign in villages such as Sahei and Haolenphai, where people were also reluctant to speak
바카라 웹사이트about the elections.바카라 웹사이트

The Kukis are Manipur라이브 바카라 third-largest ethnic group, after the majority Meitei who live in the Imphal valley and the Nagas who, just like the Kukis, live in the hills. While the valley (40 assembly seats) versus hills (20 assembly seats) divide in Manipur is one of the oldest and major areas of conflict in the state, the hills have also bled in the Naga versus Kuki conflicts. 바카라 웹사이트

There are more than two dozen Kuki insurgent groups, 23 of which have entered a suspension of operations (SOO) agreement with the government of India – 15 of them under the umbrella of the KNO and eight under the banner of United People라이브 바카라 Front (UPF). Armed members of these groups under SOO are supposed to live in their designated camps but local residents allege this is not maintained with any strictness.바카라 웹사이트

Notably, the government of India라이브 바카라 SOO agreement with these groups is valid till February 28, the day of the first phase polling in Manipur. It is expected to be extended.바카라 웹사이트

The ‘Threat’바카라 웹사이트

On February 25, a day before this writer visited the village, the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) – which runs the so-called Government of Zale’n-gam (land of freedom), a Kuki homeland within India they dream of – announced that it had “resolved to extend support to all the BJP candidates” in the바카라 웹사이트twelfth Manipur assembly election. 바카라 웹사이트

“In line with the ongoing dialogue between (the) KNO and (the) Government of India, the central government and ruling BJP leadership has promised swift settlement of Kuki political aspirations,” said the statement issued by KNO president P S Haokip, adding that Union home minister Amit Shah had “announced바카라 웹사이트the same” during his public address at Churachandpur public ground on February 23. 바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트

“Accordingly, KNO appeals to all chiefs, CSOs leaders and all voters to support BJP candidates in all KNO operational areas. Any person or organisation acting contrary to this appeal will be deemed acting against Kuki interest,” the statement said.바카라 웹사이트

By ‘KNO operational areas’, they mean the districts of Tengnoupal, Chandel, Kangpokpi, Churachandpur and Pherzawl and some parts of Tamenglong, Ukhrul and Senapati.바카라 웹사이트

The next day, United Kuki Liberation Front (UKLF), another insurgent group, issued a statement supporting the BJP candidates in Tengnoupal and Chandel, the areas where they hold clout. The language of the statement that UKLF spokesperson T James shared with select media houses in Manipur was strikingly similar to that of the KNO. The UKLF is part of the UPF.바카라 웹사이트

This prompted Congress to submit a memorandum before the chief election commissioner, terming the KNO statement as “a direct and clear threat to the conduct of free and fair elections” that “blatantly intimidates people to vote for the BJP.”

In a tweet, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, the party라이브 바카라 in-charge for Manipur assembly elections, wrote, “Aap Chronology Samjhiye. 22.02.22: PM comes to Manipur. 23.02.22: Union Home Minister comes to Manipur. 25.02.22: Banned outfit Kuki National Organisation issues a statement supporting BJP & threatening voters. It라이브 바카라 a blatant violation of Model Code of Conduct. ECI MUST intervene!”

On the ground in Manipur라이브 바카라 tribal-dominated districts, though, intimidations from such groups were taking place since the beginning of February. Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma라이브 바카라 National People라이브 바카라 Party (NPP), which won four seats in Manipur in 2017, had made repeated allegations - a charge that
바카라 웹사이트the UKLF had instantly denied and later the BJP, too.바카라 웹사이트

By the end of the month, though, there was no denial forthcoming. The NPP candidate from Tengnoupal, who is a Kuki, had meanwhile withdrawn his candidature - a move that should help the BJP라이브 바카라 Kuki candidate, Letpao Haokip, get the Kuki votes undivided. In Chandel, the NPP candidate라이브 바카라 nomination was rejected by the election commission.

Five candidates are formally in the fray in Tengnoupal and two in Chandel. In both places, hardly anyone agreed to speak on record about the elections. “It라이브 바카라 not what I say or what you write, it라이브 바카라 how my comment will be interpreted by different state and non-state actors is all that matters,”바카라 웹사이트 an NGO worker at Chandel said.바카라 웹사이트

Only the Naga People라이브 바카라 Front (NPF) that claims to represent the Nagas seemed to be in a state to campaign in their own pockets.바카라 웹사이트

But, again, the NPF has widely been accused of being a frontal organisation of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), better known as NCSN (I-M), with which the Union government has a ceasefire agreement with regard to Nagaland for an indefinite period. The NSCN (I-M) holds significant바카라 웹사이트clout in the Naga-dominated areas in the hills districts.

“Kuki-backed organisation or party intimidating NPF candidates would likely attract the wrath of the NCSN (IM) and it could lead to a major disaster… 바카라 웹사이트a chain of 'actions and reactions'. Possibly, both camps know it. The Congress and the NPP candidates were ‘soft targets’ from this perspective,” said a
바카라 웹사이트schoolteacher based in Tengnoupal town who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution. 바카라 웹사이트

Both the NPP and the NPF were part of the바카라 웹사이트N Biren Singh-led BJP government in the state since 2017 but have opted to go to the election without any pre-poll alliance.바카라 웹사이트

“The KNO statement is unfortunate. I appeal to all underground groups to refrain from involving themselves with the elections. Their goal is beyond election results and they should leave the political field to us who are in it,” Langhu Starson, president of the NPF라이브 바카라 Chandel district unit, told this writer.바카라 웹사이트

The Equations바카라 웹사이트

Kuki social organisations threatening members of the tribe with excommunication for voting against a Naga candidate in Manipur was likely as much inconceivable as was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)라이브 바카라 alliance with the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) until the latter happened.바카라 웹사이트

The former, too, has happened. The BJP라이브 바카라 Chandel candidate, SS Olish, is a Naga. She contested from the same seat in 2012 as an independent and in 2017 as a BJP candidate. Both the times, she lost to a Naga People라이브 바카라 Front (NPF) candidate, likely because Nagas outnumber Kukis in this constituency.바카라 웹사이트

According to a declaration issued by the Kuki Chiefs’ Association (KCA) on January 26, all the Kuki ‘civil society organisations’ under the umbrella of KCA Chandel had on January 12 ‘unanimously resolved to support Ms SS Olish,’ whom they described as the ‘intending BJP candidate in Chandel’.바카라 웹사이트

“Any individual/ party etc. going against this agreement and pledge of the apex body of the Kuki tribes in Chandel district will not (sic) be tolerated nor condoned. The consequences whatsoever arising out of the same will be the sole responsibility and accountability of the individual/ party themselves.
바카라 웹사이트Further, they will be boycotted and excommunicated from the Kuki society in Chandel district,” reads the January 26 declaration.바카라 웹사이트

That was even before the BJP had named her as a candidate and this ‘pledge’ had perhaps helped the chief minister in convincing the national leadership to give Olish another chance to win Chandel if a BJP veteran in the state is to be believed. He spoke to this writer on the condition of anonymity.바카라 웹사이트

But why are the Kuki organisations so overt in their support for the BJP? What ‘political solution’ can the Union government actually offer the Kukis, whom neither the Meitei nor the Nagas of Manipur consider to be indigenous to the state?바카라 웹사이트

“It라이브 바카라 the drug money,” said an NGO worker associated with a rehabilitation centre in Tengnoupal, adding that the Indo-Myanmar cross border illegal drug trade is recently being controlled by Kuki rebel groups who operate along the Manipur-Myanmar border. “They want safety and security for their trade. It라이브 바카라 as simple as that,” said the NGO worker. 바카라 웹사이트

The drug trade involves poppy cultivation and smuggling of heroin, crystal methamphetamine and Yaba tablets.

In Imphal, noted human rights activist Babloo Loitongbam echoed him. “Groups who are known to be key players in the drug trade, like the KNO, have openly come out and supported the ruling BJP. This is an extremely dangerous trend. We have reasons to believe the drug money is exploding in the mainstream political scene. The future of democracy in Manipur will be at great risk if this trend remains unchecked,” he said. 바카라 웹사이트

Apart from basic amenities, areas like Chandel, Tengnoupal and Ukhrul also need more government action towards the rehabilitation and care of drug abusers and HIV patients – reuse of injections have led to a spread of HIV in these areas.바카라 웹사이트

In times of the elections, however, no one was talking about these.

SS Olish, the BJP라이브 바카라 Chandel candidate, refused to speak on the matter involving KNO support or drug smuggling rackets. “I will comment, if any, after March 10,” she said, referring to the day when the results are scheduled to be announced.
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