Imphal, November 14 2008: THE KNO in a statement to the said that the PAKAN ARMY comprising of Anal, Chothe, Lamkang, Monshang, Muzon, and Tarao has joined the Kuki National Organisation.

The statement said that in recent history, the British adopted the divide and rule policy in order to control the ethnic Kuki people and concocted the term old Kuki and New Kuki.

About thirty-odd years ago, this division was further capitalized upon by the neighbouring Tangkhul missionaries in Chandel District of Manipur.

The missionaries preached the gospel of Christ in Chandel, particularly among the Anal, Muzon and Monshang, Chiru, Chothe, and Lamkang people, who belong to the old Kuki categorisation.

This effort of the missionaries is duly appreciated.

Following their conversion to Christianity, however, the missionaries made haste to influence the people to adopt Naga as a political identity.

The Nationalists Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak & Muivah), operating in Manipur, later reinforced this divisive agenda by the barrel of the gun, contradicting its political slogan- 'Nagaland for Christ'.

From its inception in 1998, the Kuki National Organisation has endeavoured to fulfil its ideology to reunite the entire Kuki people, and to restore the territorial entity of Kuki ancestral lands, divided by the British between India and Burma following the Kuki Rising of 1917-1919.The noble efforts began to yield results in August 2005, when several armed Kuki revolutionary groups joined hands with KNO.

By 2006, the number of Kuki revolutionary groups that share the KNO umbrella steadily grew.

In December 2007, with the ground-breaking event of the United Old Kuki Liberation Army (Khoipu, Anal, Maring etc) and the Kuki Revolutionary Front (Unification) also joining the groups sharing the KNO umbrella, the total number has risen to a formidable twelve.

Today, in 2008, with the PAKAN ARMY joining the KNO, Kuki reunification framework has been put in place.

The day is not far when all the sons of Zale'n-gam will stand shoulder to shoulder to resurrect our land.

The origin of the Kuki people is Khul (a subterranean dwelling); in the local vernacular they are Khulmi, meaning people of Khul.

Khulmi region means the land of the Kukis.

As the Kuki brethren are painfully aware, several forces have persistently attempted to divide the Kukis in order to encroach upon their ancestral lands.

First it was the British, then NSCN (IM), and latterly the valley-based armed orgnisations, such as the United National Liberation Front.

The movement for Zale'n-gam seeks to unite the Kukis and ensure they live in peace.

The rights of the Kuki people must be respected by their neighbours and vice versa.

No longer should organisations belonging to other ethnic groups interfere in internal Kuki issues with respect to identity or ownership of land.

It will not be long before our dream and inalienable right to be safe and secure in our ancestral lands will be realised, the statement said.

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