The Kuki Inpi is the traditional form of local government of the tribal

Kuki people The Kuki people, or Kuki-Zo people,Rakhi BoseIn Tense Manipur, Sub-Categorisation And 'Creamy Layer' Could Open A Pandora's Box Outlook, 11 September 2024. uoting general secretary of the Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU), Kangpokpi''At pr ...

. While it exists at the village level, higher levels of Kuki Inpi at the district or the state levels are also formed depending on need. Kuki Inpi Manipur is a prominent state-level organisation in the state of

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

. After becoming dormant in the early 20th century, it was revived in 1993 in order to safeguard the Kuki people against ethnic conflicts. It currently functions as a social network of the leaders of the community.

Background

The traditional system of government of the

was called Kuki Inpi. It had an upper house, called ''Upa Inpi'', and a lower house, called ''Haosa Inpi''. Both of them were made up of Kuki clan chiefs ("Phung Upas") and village chiefs ("Kho Haosas"). The king of

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

was the symbolic head of the government, referred to as "Kumpi". After the advent of the British colonial rule, the Kuki Inpi government became dormant, even though the village chiefs continued to function in their traditional roles. The Kukis believe that, after the independence of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

, the governments of these nation-states failed to safeguard the Kuki populations. It is said that between 1990 and 1998, 360 Kuki villages were destroyed and 900 Kuki people were killed, across the states of

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

and

Chin State Chin State (, ) is a state in western Myanmar. Chin State is bordered by Sagaing Division and Magway Division to the east, Rakhine State to the south, the Chattogram Division of Bangladesh to the west, and the Indian states of Mizoram to th ...

Organisation

The present organisation of Kuki Inpi was revived on 29 June 1993 at Kuki Inn in Imphal. A special Kuki tribal leaders meeting attended by 232 leaders voted to revive the organisation under this name, rejecting other proposed titles such as "Kuki Security Council" and "Kuki Zomi Council". This organisation was named "Kuki Inpi Manipur". Similar organisations were soon formed in the states of Nagaland, Assam and others. Kuki Inpis were also formed in Delhi and the United States. An apex body of Kuki Inpis called "Kumpipa" was also formed, with a president Athong Limthang Sompijang. The Kuki Inpi of Nagaland distanced itself from the other inpis. Kuki Inpi Manipur is headed by Ch. Ajang Khongsai in 2023.Kuki Inpi Manipur elects office bearers
Imphal Free Press, 5 November 2022. There are also district-level Kuki Inpis in Manipur.

Activities

In the wake of the

2023 Manipur violence 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

, Kuki Inpi Manipur called for a separate state for Kuki people be created out of Manipur, under Article 3 of the

Indian Constitution The Constitution of India is the supreme legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and ...

. The decision for the call was taken in a cabinet meeting of the governing group on 12 July 2023. Maroosha Muzaffar
Manipur group formally calls for breakaway state as India condemns EU parliament resolution on ethnic violence
Independent, 15 July 2023.

Notes

References

Bibliography