The eastern part of South Asia and the western part of Southeast Asia are termed Western Southeast Asia by many native communities, i.e., the geographical areas of Bangladesh, Bhutan, North-East India, and Myanmar. If one is keen on the geopolitics of South Asia and Southeast Asia, one must be aware of the on-going civil war in Myanmar from 2020, where Kuki-Chin-Zo militant groups play a huge role in anti-government armed coalitions, the news of enduring ethnic clashes between Meitei (an indigenous animist tribe) and Kuki-Chin-Zo militant groups from 2023, and the Bangladesh government’s own counter-separatist operation against Kuki-Chin-Zo militant groups. Now, armed clashes and tensions have started between Naga’s Militant Groups and Kuki-Chin-Zo Militant Groups in Myanmar, Manipur, and Nagaland. And the recent exile Prime Minister of Bangladesh talks of external powers trying to create a new Christian state in this region using the Kuki-Chin-Zo community just before her exile and after.

The actual definition of this community is a little vague. They are known as “Kuki” in most parts of India, “Chin” in Myanmar, and “Mizo” in Mizoram. Not much is mentioned about this community in the local histories of the region before the arrival of the British Empire in the 16th century. It is said that the British Empire had used them as potters and paid mercenaries to counter or control the local kings and tribes of the region. They practise and follow the American Baptist Church. Some part of this community also claims itself as a Jew of the “Bnei Menashe” sect and settles in the new claimed land of Israel.

First, they settled in present-day Mizoram (Lushai Hills) and Chin State (in Myanmar) in the 16th century. Later, Political Agent to Manipur (1830-1840s), Colonial William McCulloch allowed and helped them to settle in present-day Manipur, Assam, and Nagaland by providing funds and guns against the wishes and concerns of indigenous communities. In 1859, the Kuki-Chin-Zo community invaded the Chittagong Hill Tracts of present-day Bangladesh and uprooted masses of Buddhist Chakma tribes’ villages. In 1860-61 and 1880-91, they invaded Tripura, resulting in uprooting 15 Tripuri villages and their places, and they started to settle in the occupied area.

In Bangladesh, Kuki-Chin-Zo’s militant groups called “Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF)” and “Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA)” are waging war against the Bangladesh Government for an independent Kuki-Chin State. This KNF and KNA are allied with the “People’s Defence Force (PDF), the armed wing of the National Unity Government (NUG) in Myanmar. KNF trains various Islamic terrorist groups in the region. In Bangladesh, Kuki-Chin-Zo militant groups are known for their disturbance to peace and development, drug trafficking, extortion, and armed trafficking.

It is alleged that the United States, EU, Japan, and other western countries support the NUG in the current ongoing civil war, and all the Kuki-Chin-Zo armed militant groups are part of the PDF coalition.

Kuki National Army (KNA) of Kuki National Organisation (KNO) is working to create a separate Kuki state from India and Myanmar. KNA has its present headquarters in Churachandpur and Chandel Districts of Manipur and is presently working with the Government of India under a Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement. KNA and Chin National Army of Chin National Front are also part of the PDF coalition. Myanmar Buddhist monks like Ashin Wirathu said Kuki-Chin militants’ groups are engaging in collective drug trade and genocide of other communities.

In Assam during the early 2000s, the Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) and KNA went to Karbi Anglong and started an ethnic clash against the Karbi tribes. Various Karbi villages were removed from the map, and the Kuki-Chin population in the area increased to 30,000 from just 2,000 in the next few years. Another subgroup of Kuki-Chin-Zo Militant’s group, Hmar People’s Convention-Democracy (HPCD), uprooted many Dimasa tribal villages in Cachar District of Assam in 2003.

Indigenous Naga Christian communities faced the most wrath of the Kuki-Chin-Zo community since their arrival in the region. In the so-called Kuki Rebellion of 1917-1919, Kuki hooligans burnt down more than 40+ Naga villages and killed more than 300 innocent villagers with their guns in Manipur. And during the 90s, from 1992-1999, the Kuki-Chin-Zo community humiliated and defeated the Naga and chased them out of various districts of Manipur completely. Those districts are Chandel, Churachandpur, Pherzawal, and Tengnoupal, which included the famous town of Moreh and were semi-chase-out from the remaining hill districts. Again, in June 2024, Naga’s NSCN-IM and KNA started war in various parts of Myanmar, and the KNA seemed to have the upper hand, killing many Naga Army members, including a captain. It is reported that in various parts of Nagaland, Kuki illegal migrants got more populated than various indigenous tribes.

Kuki-Chin-Zo population increased from 17,204, representing 7.78 per cent of the population of Manipur in 1891, to 448,214, representing 15.70 per cent of the total population of Manipur in 2011. In 1891, there were only 73 Kuki-Chin-Zo villages in Manipur, but in 2024, there are more than 1878 Kuki-Chin-Zo villages in Manipur. In 2008, the Government of India (GoI) under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) signed the SoO with 25 Kuki-Chin-Zo armed militant groups and allowed them to set up camps across Manipur. The GoI also pays Rs 6,000 every month to every member of these armed militant groups. This also led to an explosion of cadres of these armed militant groups. They are also allowed to intermingle freely with the Indian Armed Forces as part of the so-called peace process. These 25 militant groups, empowered by the SOO agreement, started illegally planting poppy plants in 13,122 acres of land in reserved forests, according to Narcotics and Affairs of Border (NAB) India, which is about 80 per cent of all illegal poppy plantations in Manipur. From the poppy plant, they produce opium and heroin and sell it to youth of indigenous tribes at discounted rates and across the globe at market rates. With this money, the Kuki-Chin-Zo militant groups armed themselves with state-of-the-art weapons.

In the ongoing civil war from 3rd May 2023, between the indigenous Meitei tribe and Kuki-Chin-Zo’s narco-terrorist groups, indigenous Meitei tribes were completely chased out of Chandel, Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, Pherzawal, and Tengnoupal districts and from many villages in Jiribam district and from many foothills of remaining districts of Manipur.

In Meghalaya, the native tribe communities of the state conducted a sit-in protest against the Kuki-Chin-Zo at Shillong, citing the conditions of other tribes at the hands of them and also starting legal procedure against them.

From 1859-2024, the Kuki-Chin-Zo community defeated the Chakma, Dimasa, Karbi, Tripuris, Nagas, and Meitei tribes in the region. They also got the upper hand against the Myanmar government and are currently fighting with the government of Bangladesh. But with the Government of India, they seem to be working together or allegedly under the SoO Agreement of 2008, which NSCN-IM also claimed. The concern of the ex-Bangladeshi Prime Minister is very likely feasible, and there is a high probability of creating a new Christian independent state of Kuki-Chin-Zo in Western Southeast Asia.

The writer is assistant professor, security management, Jharkhand Raksha Shakti University