KUKI CHIEF-SHIP: LOOKING EAST OR WEST?

By: Lunminthang
Haokip
Background: The issue merits a heated debate till the sun goes cold. To the Kuk
is, chief-ship is age-old. Long before democracy replaced monarchy in India, in
the Kuki-inhabited regions of the sub-continent’s north-eastern states and its M
ilitary-ruled neighbour, Myanmar’s north-western frontiers, an unique method of
hill-village governance evolved out of environmental compulsions. Good or bad,
the situation in the tribal settlements demanded a semblance of self-rule in the
near-total absence of proper connectivity to better-civilized societies. That’s
how every Kuki village had a chief in the helm of administrative affairs, and t
he forest-land a chief and his villagers could possibly lay their hands upon cam
e under a particular chief-ship. Attachment to it was purely voluntary.
Chief-ship Of The Past: The joke that strikes a chord with the informed citizenr
y in the hill districts of Manipur is, “Be cautious when you walk on the roads,
neo-rich chiefs are learning how to drive. You may get hit”. The punch of the jo
ke that saner thought leaves unsaid, is implied on the upward mobility of purse
-prodded chiefs, who, thanks to the recently launched national rural employment
guarantee scheme, go madly for consumer durables like a motor car, with a passio
n usually reserved for religion, but feel ill-at-ease to drive at their advanced
stage of ageing. Like Yuppies of NW India, the scheme-savvy heads of villages m
ay enjoy the powers and privileges granted in unlimited doses by decentralised p
lanning. But when it comes to authority over their subjects, they are no patch o
n the system-backed original village chiefs of the distant past. Like in the cas
e of the CEO of a Private Ltd company, it was suicidal not to fall in line with
their whims and fancies in back-block management, then.
Kuki Tradition: Clannishness was, and still is in lesser degrees, to the hill la
ndlords as casteism was and is to mainland India. The effects of the ills are a
s chilling. Exercising absolute authority over land-holdings within his bounds,
and his tight grip over life-sustaining pastoral productivity sector, a Kuki chi
ef’s lording was as good and as bad as a that of Rajput landlord in north India
. A flip of the fingers can send domestic servants of the moustached masters tot
tering for cover. The Kuki chief, in his hey days, did not lag much behind. His
word was law and in-law deals could be clinched or detached at will. The illogic
al but mandatory slaughter of the unclean pig to clean up a house ‘dirtied’ by b
loodshed is an unfortunate example of the accident of tradition.
Gen-Curses: One can understand the bullying ways of the ruler, and the trembling
subservience of the ruled, in the pre-Independence (India) era, over land and c
ustoms. Might was right then. But what is unfair is the imposition and tolerance
of pre-Christianity curses like male-centric inheritance laws, sub-clan-based n
ew-village creation norms, fine systems, mandatory show of allegiance to clan-he
ads, laws on marriage and divorce etc. among churched village-folks. This staunc
h beliefs and practices that run counter to Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lords,
and everything that is in it...”, not only jeopardizes the sense of belongingne
ss to a sub-nation unification process, but also blunts the cutting edge of many
vital Bible verses like, “Henceforth, know ye no man after the flesh (2 Cor. 5:
16)”. Despite rapid globalisation, the Kuki chief-ship neither looks East nor We
st in transaction of human affairs. With owlish nonchalance, it insists on insp
ection and application of the near-insane insinuations of the past, whenever
a key decision over a serious dispute is to be taken.
Looking West: The crossover missionary labours of the western Christians
in the 19th and early 20th centuries paid off rich dividends. The initial preac
hers of the Gospel doubled up as social reformers too. The valour of the Kuki fi
ghters, exhibited with trademark pride in the 1917-1919 rebellion against the Br
itish rulers, had negative historical ramifications to their own isolation in ad
ministrative creaming. But they could not achieve an encore in matters of religi
on. Ironically, the muzzle-loader trigger-happy community’s failure to shoot dow
n the onslaught of Christianity, ultimately, set the progressive pace of develo
pment of the mind. Education, imparted with the larger motive of evangelisation
of the then heathen and hidden Kukis, made them change their outlook, and moved
them to stick their necks out on the look from the narrow apertures of ‘pagan cu
lture’, for progressive western culture. In matters of housing, dressing, worshi
pping, marrying, singing and merry-making, the once kinky Kukis, never looked ba
ck ever since. No regrets there.
Looking East: The Kuki chief-ship is a paradox by itself. It somehow l
egitimizes the vast stretches of hill land a village settles in and feed themsel
ves from. Habitually resistant to the meticulous land survey systems, demarcatio
n of possession by natural boundaries like rivers, ridges, gorges and footpaths
serve the short-cut choosing community right. Virgin slopes where various short-
term plants can be grown to bear fruits of prosperity are available a dime-a-doz
en in the districts of Manipur bordering Myanmar. The “Look East” policy promise
s a ready market for horticultural products in the ASEAN cities through the East
ern corridor via Moreh –Tamu route etc. Most portions of the Trans-Asian highwa
ys had been multi-laned and paved to take on international trading thoroughfare.
North East India, thanks to similarity in features and cultures, fortunately ha
s no problem establishing a people to people rapport with ASEAN nations.
The China Factor: The emergence of China as a wholesaler of every household need
and a buyer of valuable forest products, albeit in shady deals, of India, will
also force the Kuki entrepreneurs of NE India to rubber-neck towards the East.
Two Asian Highways routed from China through upper and eastern Myanmar had alrea
dy flooded Tamu, Namphalong and Moreh market with trade items at irresistible pr
ices. On the flip-side, chief-ship and its traditional fixation takes the under
-developed community in reverse gear. Undemocratic impositions on helpless landl
ess inhabitants sub-divide a main village into many more hamlet villages which a
re counter-productive in premature stages. Some are still-born. Horticultural pl
ants and pucca houses are the casualties. The former never grow fully; and the l
ater get dismantled frequently.
The Causes: Chief-ship carries the burden of clan-receptive and change-a
llergic negative social elements democracy and Christianity can do nothing about
. Nothing delights a well-heeled Kuki brother than being declared the chief of a
new village or being issued a gun-licence. To him, the two are licences to thri
ll. He is happier to be a ruler of three households than be a title-less time-pa
ssing bugger in a 100-house village. The tragedy is every man in the small vill
age thinks alike. All wish to be a chief one day, if not by hook, then by crook.
So, at the slightest provocation, a rebel-without-a-pause equipped with imagina
ry cause is born. A fine for breaking wrong-doing is often made a excuse to eith
er shift base or create a hamlet village. No wonder, a Kuki village with 20 hous
es is looked up with awe and considered a highly well-behaved entity; many big v
illages notwithstanding.
The Remedy: Looking East or West is not the optional end. The best to lo
ok at, to remedy the social malady of village fragmentation in a world where num
bers and size matter, is the God-Man from the Middle-East, Lord Jesus, who said
, “Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant” (Matt. 20:27). Th
is singular verse, applied in letter and spirit, will change the face of Kuki vi
llages and society. A chief’s role is of multi-tasks. A good chief must be the c
hief donor, chief runner, chief orator, chief servant, chief forgiver, chief pro
moter all rolled into one restless soul with a heart of gold. All these attribut
es can not be endowed in one man. So, he has to evangelize his village using the
Word of God. A believer is much easier to be tackled during crisis than a hardc
ore atheist. Chief or no chief, an individual can’t keep everyone happy. So, the
 chief should be “shrewd like a serpent and harmless like a dove”. If he can’t b
e so, he has to imagine a lot and cultivate a sense of humour. Because imaginati
on is given to man to compensate him for what he is not, and a sense of humour,
to console him for what he is. Right?
Conclusion: Like it or not, chief-ship is here to stay. Government recog
nises the chief as the lowest functionary in a hill district democratic set-up w
hose mistakes can, of course, upset the whole. His performance or non-performa
nce will impact the big picture. Concerned thinkers are invited to share their i
deas in the media so that a more potent village administrative guideline may co
me up to replace the obsolete present. A paradigm shift in approach is desired.
We need to formulate Acts and Rules that would aptly address the basic social st
ructures and super-structures that stop our natural, human and financial resourc
es from peaking. Let us take positive steps to do away with the generational cur
ses that stand between what we should have been and what we actually are. Unless
, we use our Scriptural knowledge and academic excellence to make our villages m
ore liveable for gen-next, posterity will, one day, blame us for having used our
heads only to keep our earlobes apart.
Poetic Appeal: Hereunder is reproduced a song written by this leisurely
pen-pusher (and sung by C. Lalhmingmawii and Abea of Aizawl) wherein he inked hi
s views, in verses, as to how to build up a better North East India. The poem
had been made a video in the soon-to-be released album, “GGMI’s GOSPEL GOES GL
OBAL”.
HAIL NORTH EAST
1. Nearer home is a shire non-lesser,
A border sapphire that links Myanmar;
Hills and dales that God’s wishes unveil;
In a no frills county called North East,
That warm vibes His own may share and fuse,
The Lord wills firm tribes to dwell in peace.
We like pride and to the land bring fears,
We love fights and to women bring tears;
Lure of wealth covers cure of the Word;
Word of men rules o’er way of the Lord;
Mend your flaws and live God’s laws will sail
As end-chant to bail and hail North East.
2. Shrewd plans badly moved our own folds ail,
Good moves sadly proved make the soul wail;
Life–lifting schemes make us all scheming,
High-living cream too keep on seeking;
Will this augur well to thirst for more,
Here where Christ gave His all and sins bore?
3. The riches the Maker blessed us with,
The Churches sinners in stress visit;
Will do less to lift up ties and traits,
Unless we give up lies in true-faith,
When the world pants in vain to Look East
The whole stands to gain most in Look Christ.