A Way Out for The Kuki People

By Lunminthang Haokip
Introduction: Who are the Kukis? Opinions will differ. The British-Indian rulers
of the 19th and early 20th centuries, for purposes of administrative categorisa
tion on linguistic groupings, might have termed a community of traditionally an
d culturally affined and naturally confined trouble-prone top-hill and mid-hill
settlers of Manipur, Nagaland, Assam and the present Myanmar as Thadous (in Burm
a) and Kukis in the rest. But much water had flown down the rivers and rivulets
of the Kuki-inhabited regions of North East India and North West Myanmar ever s
ince.
Regroupings on clannish, Christian-denominational, and circumstance-compelled po
litical lines had refined and re-defined the Kuki nomenclature several times ove
r the past and recent decades. Today, the tribes and clans who hold on fast to t
he serial-war-battered sub-national terminology do so more out of the TINA (ther
e is no alternative)-factor than out of the CINA (choice in national affiliation
)-factor. The loud clamour for unity under Kuki-fold, at times, smacks of conven
ient opportunism with the cleverly-hidden policy of “ice can be given up when wi
nter comes.”

Kukis of North East India: Post-1993, a lot of changes and shifts had been seen
in the clashes-reminiscent Kuki-psyche. In the less-turbulent pre-1993 era, the
manual job of rickshaw-pulling or washing dishes in eateries was a rare last-opt
ion even for the impoverished yet pride-rich Kuki. But of late, driven by the ec
onomics of day-to-day survival in a slippery insecure world with hunger gnawing
at their vitals, beggars can no more be choosers. The jhum-fields used to be the
main source of sustenance.
The woe for the man-with-the-hoe is compounded further by the generational curse
of supreme authority of orthodox-chiefship over village-land that Christianity
and democracy could not undo. The under-current of this mental rebellion against
denial to possess individual permanent land-holding on the part of the average
inhabitant resulted in village-shifting or creation of many more smaller village
s. The casualties are horticultural plants and dwelling-houses. The former never
grow fully and the latter are dismantled frequently.
Education: Fear-psychosis, internal, external and imaginary, coupled with inhere
nt migratory mindset, made many Kuki-families hop from one district or town to a
nother at regular intervals. In certain cases, going bag and baggage from one pl
ace to another only meant jumping out of the proverbial frying pan to the fire.
In the mad rush to locate suitable venue of problem-free settlement, children’s
education had been soft-pedalled. Rolling stones gather no moss. Students-on-the
-move, continually, gather no knowledge.
Travel expenses burn big holes in parental pockets. Cost of studies goes up year
after year. In a grouping-centre of communal-clashes-survived displaced Kukis,
no money could be spared to educate one’s bunch of unschooled kids. So, one had
to adopt a unique unheard-of system. Puppies were offered for admission to nurse
ry class and piglets for class 1. Strange but that is the stark reality that we
should double-click in our thoughts and not delete in the process of executing g
reat plans to achieve literacy for all.
Youth Unrest and Parental Worry: Despite setbacks at home and elsewhere, hope sp
rings eternal in the Kuki-family. There is a dogged determination to see, at lea
st, the eldest son, if not daughter, graduate and yield high like the high-yield
ing variety of paddy. But the soil is bad in certain cases and in others, the th
orns around the plant choke academic growth. Deprived of proper spiritual ground
ing, with the boundary lines of good and evil becoming increasingly blur, some m
isguided youths born out of the curse of Genesis 3:16 (I will multiply thy sorro
w...) and whose upbringing could not be impacted by the remedial prescription of
John 3:16, opted for deadly 16s.
In a bid to steer their children’s future clear out of ceasefire but cease-less-
fear affairs, on behalf of family’s bread and jam, high-aiming heads of families
had sent their wards to the safer academic environs in the big metros of the co
untry. If by chance, the wards attain degrees out there in restriction-free citi
es that would be a surprise bonus. Who says Kuki daddies are too poor to support
studies? That monthly salaries, pensions and property are either sold or mortga
ged for the education compatriots get without doing ditto, of course, is the sad
debt-tale of many Kuki homes.
Cultural Subordination: The level of self-respect and prestige percentage of an
ordinary Kuki is at all-time low. There is no dearth of individual talent and ac
hievers in the beleaguered community. Many hard-working personalities in the soc
iety, by sheer grit and slog, scaled heights as bureaucrats, technocrats, profe
ssionals, politicians and performers in the spiritual and private entrepreneuria
l sectors. But as an ethnic entity co-existing with many other communities in a
plural society, the Kukis are far from getting the due share they deserve in ter
ms of collective regard and respectability as a group of tribes.

Despite their strong presence in the twin border towns of Moreh and Tamu, for ex
ample, almost none outside their tribe speak Thadou/Kuki in the international ma
rket transactions. In government-run radio and television channel set-ups/progra
mmes of Kuki-inhabited pockets of countries, states and districts, excepting the
good coverage of gory blood-spill in 1993-94 tragedies, the slots allotted to t
he community are hardly proportionate to their population-size. The same can be
said in the field of sports, job opportunities, medical facilities, recognition
of merit, arts and culture in national and state media and institutions etc. But
these lacking are too much of a bourgeoisie luxury for a, by and large, sub-nat
ion of strugglers.
Blame It On Whom?: The problem lies not in the social set-up or the slowly geare
d up ethnic get-up, it lies squarely in the mental make-up typical of the anti-c
hange Kuki mindset. A long chain of generational curses like son-centric daughte
r-belittling inheritance laws (that makes the proclamation of Numbers 27:8 null
and void); irrationally irrelevant burden-attached Upa-system; feud-generating c
ounter-productive fine-systems; tradition, and not God-honouring, close-kinship
-non-disparaging marriage system that tilts heavily, not on Holy, but on folly m
arriages; emotional unbiblical sad-event observances (that runs counter to the d
ivine plea of Matthew 5:44); a misleading misconceived mass-madness called Miss
Kut-dependent Kut-fest; a disintegrating village administrative system that acce
lerates democratic norms in back-gear; the great commission-defying penchant to
organise Churches on calculative clannish lines; the habitual weakness to rebel
against the chief/Upa of a village/sub-clan and the chief’s myopic indifference
to his subject’s suffering; the habit to beg from other Christian nations at the
irreparable expense of ignoring the potential worth of their own human, natural
and financial resources etc; etc.
Many more self-imposed curses garbed in the disguised attire of tradition and cu
lture that exist in the Kuki sub-consciousness can be dug out. All said and done
, they are the self-goal-scoring parameters of life that they voluntarily refuse
to do without that unapologetically stand unmoved between what they should have
been and what they actually are, today.
Modern-day Sanballats and Tobiahs: Pessimism seems to be fashionable these days
. There is a tendency to pass stretched-to-the-hilt imaginary judgements on heal
thy initiatives in the community that readily believes bad things said about peo
ple they do not like. Every now and then, outstanding home-grown leaders exhibit
 sparks of visionary statesmanship. But thanks to the high-decibel negative wagg
ing of twisted tongues, the sparks remain sparks, and not veritable rays, for la
ck of positive response.
In the same manner Nehemiah’s efforts to rebuild the broken walls of Jerusalem h
ad been severely criticised by the likes of Sanballat and Tobiah, vocal and prac
tical attempts to restructure the destabilising social setbacks that made the Ku
kis comparatively small among the nations had been silenced by the echoing loude
r voice of envy, jealousy and one-upmanship at the wrong junctures of history. T
his accounts for the involuntary withdrawal of well-meaning futuristic out-of-th
e-box ideas for social change. The wrongs in the basics of concepts and systems
need to be righted immediately. If one thinks that storeys of progress can be bu
ilt upon faulty foundations, one may as well plant an oak tree in a flower pot a
nd expect it to thrive.
Fresh Attempt to Rebuild: Knowing their kindred and fully aware that the implica
tions of their visionary objectives will invite more brickbats that bouquets, le
aders of the recently renamed and revamped Kuki Churches Fellowship Internationa
l (KCFI), keeping their fingers crossed, floated the following ideals for their
own folks to give a serious thought and make constructive suggestions through th
e common international internet media that the computer-literate intellectuals i
n the community share. Agreed that it had been said that “fools rush in where an
gels fear to tread.” But the point KCFI desires to drive home is that it is bett
er to attempt and fail/succeed to bring about sustainable paradigm-shifting cha
nge than simply chicken out from giving it a try for fear of its ramifications.
Under the motto of C4K –Christ for Kukis, and the unflinching faith that only wh
en we do what we can in tune with the principles of the Bible, God will do what
we cannot do, in tune with the principles of His mercy, the proposed plans of ac
tion for the herded members of Kuki churches to cultivate are succinctly given h
ereunder:
1. To revive all Kuki Churches through the media, Revival meetings, Seminars, Bi
ble camps and follow-up ministries.
2. To emotionally integrate church-folks through triennial fellowships.
3. To improve living standards through hard work and proper utilisation of natur
al, human and financial resources.
4. To live in peace with all our neighbours. Forgive and forget past incidents.
5. To set right the basics of social structures and cursed systems.
6. To have a loose fellowship of all Kuki churches with the autonomy of the Loca
l Church in mind. Local churches to be lightly herded under KCFI-fold.
7. To confess individual, family and community sins in organised prayer sessions
.
8. To glorify and honour God in marriages and every sub-national observance and
celebration like Kut fest.
9. To appreciate, recognise and promote talent and merit through Gospel Awards.
10. To improve infrastructure, connectivity, Literature, human development indic
ators and productivity sectors through passionate prayer and righteous living.
Coclusion: Almost every Kuki is a Christian. Every Christian has a potent weapon
in prayer, faith in the Almighty and claiming the promises of God. Nehemiah con
fessed national and corporate sins of his ancestors and God moved the king’s hea
rt to pave the way for him to go to his land and rebuild. Sinless Daniel confess
ed the sins of his forefathers. Heaven heard the sincere prayer and quickened to
end the Babylonian ordeal and sent the chosen people back to where they were pr
omised.
We have truce presently. There is no peace today in our land, more so in our hea
rts. In this Christmas season, Jesus, the prince of peace, from His heavenly thr
one, desires that we repent, confess our sins, throw away evil practices and tot
ally rely upon the promises of the scripture. On our own, using human skills and
know-how, we could not bring healing and peace to our surroundings. If we obey
the Word, the promise in Leviticus 26:6 can be all ours to reap: “And I will giv
e peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and
I will rid evil beast out of the land; neither shall the sword go through your l
and.”
Our shattered society is akin to the wrong-click-propelled dislocated group of w
ords in an MS-Word format that cannot be pieced together with ignorant clicks he
re and there. But if we collectively pray and entrust our Lord to do the seeming
ly impossible things for us, He will surely restore peace and orderliness in our
partisan and mentally-partitioned community in the same way a click at the undo
icon easily puts words together again. The stumbling block in the word IMPOSSIB
LE is IM.
The writer, burdened by the pricking realities in our difficult existence or sub
sistence in an otherwise flourishing mess between two poles, jots down his profo
und thoughts in rhymed verses, for all like-minded fellow-Kukis to read and act
upon:
C4K: CHRIST FOR KUKIS
1. Where there’s no vision, people perish,
Where there’s no will-of-God, widows increase;
My own folks, you love one another,
Says our good Lord and God the father;
Love of land, tribe and self is greater,
Among the nations, we are smaller.
In a bid to build church of own choice
Coz each wants to lead own fold’s sad voice;
Church-folks who once sang in one accord,
Are now split followers of one Lord;
That we may regain spiritual strength,
The binding KCFI, let’s all make ours.
2. We may be parted by land borders,
Maybe we’re bound by rules and orders;
But, like the trees, our roots of origin
And branches, in Christ are enjoined;
That the poor and deprived may get well,
Let’s put to use might of the Gospel.
3. To be stewards, on earth we were kept,
To be honoured in God, we were left;
But we swap His will with vain passions,
We’re below our due among nations,
Wake up, let’s cease to for Christ seize land,
Let Christ for Kukis be the peace-chant.