Manipur Police File FIR Against Writer, Editors of 2018 Book for 'Distorting State's History'

 The book, 'The Anglo-Kuki War 1917-1919: A Frontier Uprising Against Imperialism During the First World War,' was written by retired Colonel Dr Vijay Chenji and edited by two JNU assistant professors.

The Wire, New Delhi: Manipur Police have filed a first information report against the author and two editors of a 2018 book following a complaint that it tried to distort the state’s history.

The Chronicle News Service has reported that the book, The Anglo-Kuki War 1917-1919: A Frontier Uprising Against Imperialism During the First World War, is written by retired Colonel Dr Vijay Chenji. It is edited by Jawaharlal Nehru University assistant professors Jangkhomang Guite and Thongkholal Haokip, who teach at the university’s Centre for Historical Studies and the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance.

Scroll.in has reported that two FIRs were filed. The one against Chenji was filed on August 9, while the case against Guite and Haokip was registered on August 7.

The book was published in 2018.

The complaint, filed by individuals from the Ukhrul, Imphal East and Imphal West villages alleges that the accused have disseminated falsehood and created an environment against public peace by representing the armed Kuki rebellion of 1917-1919 as an Anglo-Kuki war.

Scroll.in‘s report says that the civil society organisation Federation of Haomee had the complaints filed.

The complainants have claimed that in the history of Manipur and the United Kingdom, there has never been an Anglo-Kuki war, and that the Kuki rebellion involved the massacre of Nagas and Koms in the hill areas and Meiteis and Muslims in the Valley.

The three have been charged against section 120 (concealing design to commit offence punishable with imprisonment), 121 (waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the government of India), 123 (concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 200 (whoever corruptly uses or attempts to use as true any such declaration, knowing the same to be false in any material point, shall be punished in the same) and 120-B (whoever is a party to a criminal conspiracy other than a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable as aforesaid).

The state of Manipur has seen 100 days of brutal ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities.