Guwahati:

The Thadou tribe in what its leaders called a “historic” event released a 10-point declaration to protect the tribe’s distinct identity and heritage amid the ethnic crisis in Manipur, the organisers of the Thadou Convention held in Assam’s Guwahati said in a statement.

Leaders and delegates of the Thadou tribe from across the country and abroad, and leaders of Mizoram-based organisations attended the event, the organisers said, adding they released a 10-point declaration and a 9-point resolution after the event.

The Thadou Convention’s declaration on the first of the two-day event emphasised on the tribe’s distinct ethnic identity having its own language, culture, traditions, and history.

“Thadou is not Kuki, or underneath Kuki, or part of Kuki, but a separate, independent entity from Kuki… Thadou is one of the original 29 native/indigenous tribes of Manipur, India, that were all simultaneously and duly recognised as independent Scheduled Tribes of Manipur under the 1956 Presidential Order, Government of India,” the declaration stated.

“Thadous have always been known and recorded as Thadou, without any prefix or suffix to it, and it has been the single-largest tribe in Manipur consistently since the first census of India in 1881 till the latest census in 2011 that recorded Thadou population at 2,15,913. Any Kuki Tribes (AKT) had a population of 28,342 in the latest Manipur census in 2011, the first time Kuki was ever recorded in a census,” it stated.

The Thadou Convention said it has decided to form several councils and groups following many rounds of discussions and deliberations. These are tentatively Thadou Inpi Mizoram, Thadou Chiefs’ Council, Thadou Human Rights Advocacy, Thadou Academic Society (TAS), and Thadou Elders’ (Upalom) Association (TEA).

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The leaders and delegates at the Thadou Convention have agreed to place a demand for recognition of the Thadou tribe as a separate and distinct Scheduled Tribe in Assam, Mizoram, and Nagaland.

“The convention calls upon all, including government authorities, media, civil societies, academics, all other communities and international organisations, to correctly and respectfully identify Thadou as Thadou, with no prefix or suffix to it, to stop imposition of Kuki or referring to Thadous as Kuki, and to make the needed rectifications,” the convention said in the statement.

The convention also agreed to form the new body Thadou Inpi Manipur (TIM) immediately, adhering to the Thadou Inpi Constitution as a unified top body of the Thadou tribe of Manipur. “This will enable Thadou to get back its original position of dignity and respect by all communities in Manipur,” it said in the statement.

During the two-day convention, the Thadou leaders and delegates in a statement said they reject and condemn “all colonial and post-colonial connotations and writings that gave rise to misidentification of Thadou as Kuki and continued imposition of Kuki on Thadou.”

“… The convention demands posthaste removal of the fake Kuki tribe (Any Kuki Tribes/AKT) – designed for any people from anywhere in the world – that came into being fraudulently in 2003 for political reasons. Removal of AKT from the Scheduled Tribes list is in the larger interest of the Indian nation and of the indigenous/native tribes and people, and this will do great justice and right the wrong, and is critical to solving or preventing related problems now and in the future,” the convention said in the statement on Saturday.

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The Thadou Community International (TCI) in an open letter on August 8 addressed to Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh had drawn his attention to the tribe’s “inaccurate” reference by leaders and the media, and sought his cooperation to spread awareness that “the Thadou tribe is distinct and any confusion with other tribes surmount to being racist, abusive, disrespectful, traumatising and it puts the Thadoi tribe in poor light”.

The TCI’s statement was significant as peace talks in violence-hit Manipur cannot proceed without accepting the genuinity of identities – though contested – amid the simmering tension between the valley-dominant Meitei community and the nearly two dozen tribes dominant in some hill districts of Manipur.

The Chief Minister on August 4 had said he met representatives of several small tribes and heard their concerns about bigger tribes trying to suppress their identities. Mr Singh in a post on X had said the smaller tribes strongly condemned alleged forgery by a man identified as Paominlen Haokip, who allegedly used fake signatures of the smaller tribes’ representatives in a complaint to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST).

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“Representatives of various small tribes called on me to raise their concerns about major tribes attempting to suppress their identities. During the meeting, they expressed their strong condemnation regarding a complaint filed by one Paominlen Haokip to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), in which their signatures were forged, making them parties to the complaint without their consent,” the Chief Minister had said.

Imphal/Guwahati/New Delhi:

A top global body of the Thadou tribe has welcomed Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s statement in the assembly that all communities are working hard to bring peace in the ethnic violence-hit state, except for a few agenda-driven leaders who are misleading the people of the state.

The Thadou Community International (TCI) in an open letter on August 8 addressed to Mr Singh had drawn his attention to the tribe’s “inaccurate” reference by leaders and the media, and sought his cooperation to spread awareness that “the Thadou tribe is distinct and any confusion with other tribes surmount to being racist, abusive, disrespectful, traumatising and it puts the Thadoi tribe in poor light”.

“We humbly request you to consider making a statement in the sixth session of the 12th Manipur legislative assembly, acknowledging our concerns and supporting our proposition,” the TCI said in the letter.

Ground For Peace Talks

The TCI’s statement is significant as peace talks in violence-hit Manipur cannot proceed without accepting the genuinity of identities – though contested – amid the simmering tension between the valley-dominant Meitei community and the nearly two dozen tribes dominant in some hill districts of Manipur.

While the Kukis – a term given by the British in colonial times – claim to represent the interests of these two dozen tribes, the TCI says Thadou is the single-largest tribe in Manipur per the 2011 Census, and only belongs to the “larger family group called the Zo/Mizo conglomerate”, not Kuki.

During the discussion and voting on demands for grants on the last day of the 6th session of the 12th Manipur assembly on August 12, the Chief Minister had said “violence was perpetrated by some, not all, people.”

“Not every Thadou, Paite, Hmar had a hand in the violence. You have seen, Hmar people spoke so well (in the peace meeting), we had tears, they too had tears, that all this happened due to misunderstandings,” Mr Singh said, referring to the August 1 peace meeting between Meitei and the Hmar tribe representatives in Jiribam, where they agreed to work for normalcy nearly two months after ethnic violence that began over a year ago reached the district bordering Assam.

“We agreed that we all face the menace of drugs and illegal immigrants, who want to destroy the old settlers. Despite the huge pressure they get, they are talking to us now. Thadous have also come on board for talks. We are working to invite Thadou and Hmar leaders to Imphal (state capital). No one can say anything to the old settlers. We already have 1961 as the base year. It is only those who came after 1961 who are creating trouble,” Mr Singh said in the assembly.

“We are not enemies. Our Hmar brothers and sisters, Thadou brothers and sisters have reciprocated well. My colleagues are also reaching out to other communities. I would like to tell the people of Manipur that we are trying very hard to bring peace to Manipur. We need the people’s support.

“The Union government and the Manipur government have already started work on the core issues raised by the people. Anyone can come to me for documentary proof of the work being done. Please do not believe in lies spread by those who play politics, who play with emotions. Do not listen to those who are spiteful for losing power after ruling for 15-20 years.

“Our Naga brothers and sisters who are present here are also working very hard for peace for all communities,” the Chief Minister said in the assembly.

“Any Kuki Tribe” Controversy

Manipur BJP spokesperson T Michael Lamjathang Haokip, who belongs to the Thadou tribe, told NDTV they have been requesting the state government to ask the Centre for removing the term “Any Kuki Tribes” from the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list.

The demand for this deletion has merits due to the potential of this particular tribe being misused by any group of people from any culture anywhere in the world at the cost of the indigenous or native people, the TCI said in a statement on August 14.

“Whereas Thadou is an indigenous tribe with its own distinct language, costumes, culture, traditions and rich heritage and history, ‘Any Kuki tribe’ was created in 2002, and fraudulently added to the Scheduled Tribes list of Manipur in 2003, so that their leaders could exploit this separatist movement for their own personal wealth creation and political control,” the TCI alleged.

“There has been enough bloodshed. It is time all tribes and communities come together for talks. We need to identify the few troublemakers who have been misleading people,” Mr Haokip said.

Over 220 have died and nearly 50,000 have been internally displaced in Manipur. The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the nearly two dozen tribes that 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.