The Manipur Police have registered cases against an author and two academicians from the Kuki-Zo community for allegedly distorting the northeastern state’s history in a book.
The book titled The Anglo-Kuki War 1917-1919 was written by retired Colonel Vijay Chenji and edited by academicians Jangkhomang Guite and Thongkholal Haokip.
The case was booked Chenji, Guite and Haokip under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to waging war against the Indian government, promoting enmity between different groups and using as true a declaration known to be false.
The complaint against them was filed by the Federation of Haomee, a Meitei organisation based in Imphal.
Haokip is an assistant professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Centre for the Study of Law and Governance while Guite is an assistant professor at the university’s Centre for Historical Studies.
The complaint alleged that the book incorrectly depicted a Kuki rebellion from 1917 to 1919 as an Anglo-Kuki war. It claimed that no Anglo-Kuki war had taken place in Manipur’s history. The complaint claimed that the Kuki rebellion involved the massacre of Nagas and Koms in the hill areas and Meiteis and Muslims in the Valley.
“In the light of the above-established facts from perusal of the books and official records, it is clear that the author has concocted many lies intentionally to usurp historical facts and distort history for personal gain and in favour of a particular community which has resulted in grave offences against India and United Kingdom,” the complaint read.
