Mokokchung, 23 October (MTNews): The NSCN-IM while acknowledging that the Nagas, Meiteis and Kukis share a common history “as brothers of Mongoloid family,” however said that Nagas should not be carried away by “such propaganda by people with vested interest to dilute the sanctity and distinct Naga national identity.”
In a statement, NSCN (I-M) on Sunday said that “this is common knowledge” and that “history is very clear” with respect to the “much-talked about Tangkhul and Meitei brotherhood.”
“The story is, however, confined only to Hundung village and does not apply to the whole Tangkhuls,” the NSCN-IM said.
“History has it that one Tangkhul brother from Hundung village went down to the present Imphal valley and settled down there to live with the Meitei community. A story also says there are cases where some Tangkhuls and other Naga tribes who were married to Kuki women settled in their land and lived with the Kuki community,” it added.
“Whereas we cannot undermine the blood relationship of the Hundung royal family and the Meiteis, one should not take it too far to give wrong meaning. We should understand that all Tangkhuls are not part of the Hungdung royal family,” it said. “Hungdung was one big village in the Tangkhul community at that time. But that does not mean Hundung village represents the whole Tangkhuls. Therefore, the relationship is not about the Tangkhul and Meitei but Hundung village royal family and a few Meitei salais(clans) and royal family in the Imphal valley,” it added.
The NSCN-IM said that “individual inter-tribal marriage never means tribe-level bond when the relationship is only between the two families.”
It further said that, in days gone by, “the past generations traced their brotherhood only in bloodline. But things have changed now, where ideological brotherhood and brotherhood in one faith counts.” “Pakistan and India, East Bengal and West Bengal come from the same blood line. They speak the same language and read the same scripts, but they were divided in the lines of religion and politics,” it explained.
“We love our Meitei and Kuki brothers and sisters and we respect them. But we know we have been living here together without political foundation. We must live together, but on the correct foundation. Apart from the common blood line, we must speak the same political language and profess the same faith. We must build our world on the foundation of a living history and not on concocted history,” the NSCN-IM said.
“All said and done, there is no feeling of antagonism towards the Meiteis and the Kukis as well,” it said.