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IMPHAL/GUWAHATI — Amidst the ethnic hostilities between Meitei and Kuki-Zo, the tribal Thadou community in Manipur asserted that it is a distinct ethnic tribe with its own separate language, culture, traditions and great history.
“We are not part of the Kuki community but a separate, independent entity from Kuki,” said the Thadou community.
The Thadou community also called for peace and non-violent resolutions to the ethnic conflict in Manipur.
After a convention in Guwahati, the tribal community announced that Thadou is one of the original 29 native/indigenous tribes of Manipur and they were recognised as independent Scheduled Tribes under the 1956 Presidential Order of the government of India.
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.
According to the 2011 census, Thadou has a population of 2,15,913. The Any Kuki Tribes (AKT) had a population of 28,342 in Manipur in the latest census (2011), the first time Kuki was ever recorded in a census, they said.
The tribal community claimed that they rejected and condemned all colonial and post-colonial connotations and writings that gave rise to the misidentification of Thadou as Kuki and the continued imposition of Kuki on Thadou.
“Today, there is no Kuki other than the 'Any Kuki Tribes' (AKT), the fake Kuki tribe (designed for any people from anywhere in the world) that came into being fraudulently in 2003 for political reasons,” the Thadou statement said while demanded that the AKT must be removed from the Scheduled Tribes list of Manipur posthaste “in the larger interest of the Indian nation and of the Indigenous/Native tribes and people”.
“We pledge to preserve and protect Thadou identity, values, language, costumes and traditions, ensuring their seamless transmission to future generations,” the statement said.
The Thadou community urged the government, 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 the imposition of Kuki or referring to Thadous as Kuki, and to make the needed rectifications.
“We fervently call for peace in Manipur and hope for a future defined by peace, justice, non-violent resolutions, and respect for each other's rights.
“We honour the memory of all those who have fallen victim to the tragic violence in Manipur since May 3, 2023, of which Thadous are the most affected yet, silenced victims, due to mistaken identity or getting caught up in the violence, and extend our deepest empathy to the survivors of the violence and their families,” the statement stated.
Of the three million population, Manipur has 33 recognised Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities while the majority Meiteis, who account for about 53 per cent of the state's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, have been demanding to recognise them as ST community.