Manipur: State Govt Filed FIR Against Kuki National Front For Renaming & Turning Sacred Hill Into Its Camp

The Manipur government has lodged an FIR against a Kuki group for promoting enmity between different groups in the state after it renamed a sacred hill as an army camp. 

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AIR & Agencies, Imphal, 21 May 2024  :  In Manipur, the State Government has filed an FIR against the Kuki militant group- Kuki National Front (Military Council) for renaming and turning a sacred hill into its camp.

The case was filed after a photograph in which the militant group put up a signboard at the foothill of Thangjing Ching located in the Bishnupur district calling the place Kuki Army camp. The Thangjing Ching is a sacred pilgrimage site for the followers of the Sanamahism religion belonging to the Meetei community.

The State Land Resource Department lodged the FIR against the militant group with the Imphal Police Station and further forwarded it to the Khoupum Police Station in which jurisdiction the hill is located. The State Land Resource Department said that the Thangjing Hill range comes under the Churachandpur-Khoupum Protected Forest areas and the hill is a Protected Site under the Manipur Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archeological Sites and Remains Act 1976. By renaming the hill as Thangting and camp of Kuki National Front (Military Council), the group violated the provision of the Manipur Names and Places Act 2024 and the Manipur Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archeological Sites and Remains Act 1976.

Meanwhile, Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh warned any individual or group who tried to rename public places unlawfully. In a social media post, the Chief Minister said that a police case has been registered in connection to the renaming of Thangjing Hill as Thangting Hill. 

The Manipur government has filed an FIR against a Kuki insurgent group after it renamed a sacred hill of the valley dominated by the Meitei community and claimed the area as its "army camp."

The Kuki National Front (Military Council), a militant organisation, had installed a signboard at the base of the Thangjing Ching hill, calling it "Thangting camp" of the "Kuki Army."

The Thangjing Hill is believed by Manipuris to be the abode of Thangching, the ancestral deity of Moirang region. The Meiteis of the Moirang region carry out an annual pilgrimage to the top of the hill.

Following the erection of a gate bearing the words 'Kuki National Front-Military Council' with the site named as "Thangting", the Under Secretary in the Land Resources department filed an FIR. The FIR stated, "The erection of a gate bearing the words Kuki National Front Military Council with the name of the site mentioned as Thangting indicates unauthorised changing of the original name of Thangjing."

"It's a violation of the Manipur Names of Places Act 2024 and the Manipur Ancient Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1976. Thangjing is a hill of historical importance, and the Art and Culture department, GoM, had declared it a protected site,” the complaint said.

The FIR has been registered on charges of criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, and deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs, among other charges.

The Thangjing Ching range lies between Moirang town and Churachandpur district, 40 km apart. Churachandpur and nearby areas are where ethnic violence began on May 3, 2023. The people in Moirang, home to the northeast's largest freshwater lake, Loktak, also consider the deity Ibudhou Thangjing the area's guardian.