Brief History of Kuki

The independent country which the world recognized as the “Union of Burma” is the land of the forefathers of many different ethnic nationalities who lived in their own princely states independently during the pre-British period. Among these indigenous people, the Kukis were one.

      Before the British colonial rule, the Kukis were not only fully independent but they also had their own custom, culture and tradition fully developed. With the establishment of the English East India Company, the Indian princely states were colonized one after another- Lower Burma in 1824, Assam in 1870 and Thibaw’s kingdom of Burma in 1886. Even when all the above states in the then India and Burma had been annexed into the British colony, yet the Kukis went on to enjoy their freedom. But the Kukis being defeated in the Anglo-Kuki war (1917-19), became under the British colonial rule.

      The defeated Kukis were not content with the torture and harassment by the British during the post war. So they fought alongside the Japanese in the Second World War with the hope of restoring their lost Rights.

      Just before the outbreak of the Second World War, Britain declare the Atlantic Charter which promised to grant full independence to the colonies joining her in the war. With the Britain and her allies victory in the war, many of their colonies were given independence accordingly as the Charter. But the Kukis who joined their enemy in the war were given nothing but their (Kukis) land was divided and given to other colonies. When the British left their colonies after giving them independence, the Hindustan under the Indian National Congress and Burma under the leadership of Aung San were each merged by many indigenous people on the basis of their choice by signing an agreement. But the British divided the land of Kukis into parts, and one was made to include in Burma.

From time immemorial, the Kuki were inhabitants of their own fore-fatherland which along the sides of the Chindwin River (Twilen) of present Burma and the hill areas or present Manipur State, India.

The Kuki are a peace and freedom-loving people. They rose up in the rebellion can be judged from the fact that if affected all the Kuki inhabited areas. Due to their superior arms, the British were able to subjugate the Kuki after a long drown-out struggle of three years (in 1917-1919).

So many Kukis of the war leaders were arrested to Taungyi jail and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Henceforth, the Kukis lived under the sovereignty of the British Colonial rule. The Kuki inhabited areas were also divided into two parts; the eastern region became under the rule of Burma and the western under the rule of Assam State of India, according to the “divide and rule policy” of the British.

When the British government offered independence to their colonies, after the WWII, the Kuki leaders signed freedom from the British government and agreed to with together with the Burmese under the leadership of General Aung San who is he father of Burma’s independence.

Unfortunately, when Burma gained independence, the Kuki were neglected and all their contributions were forgotten. “Divide and rule policy” was followed among the Kuki people. Both the parliamentary democracy government and BSPP (Burma Socialist Programme Party) period, the Burmans of upper Burma and lover Burma were settled in the Kuki areas to swallow their cultural and religious of Kuki peoples.

There was a coup-de-tat in 1988 by the military junta, whereby the hardship of the Kuki multiplied, following a policy of Burmanization, the government populated the land which had been hither to belonged to the Kuki for generations, with Burmese immigrants, threatening to swallow their religion, culture and nation.

One of the worst affected following he establishment of military rule were subjected to secant torture, flogging and rampant violation of the Kuki basic human rights. The innocent Kuki masses thus suffered intolerable harassment under the military junta.

In human fate mated out to force pro-democracy of Kuki youth and many Kukis to take refuge inside India and where they began to setup to fight against the military junta and to restore democracy in Burma among the oversea Kuki students and youth.