Every year, on October 2, in the Hungpung village, the Thawaijao Hungpung Young Students Organisation (THYSO) organises a cleanliness drive as part of the local heritage and contribution towards the development of Ukhrul town. In this long-standing custom, invitations are sent forth to like-minded and conscious individuals, who pro bono willingly extend their support and participate in such collective endeavours.
The Cleanliness Drive, 2024 edition, witnessed a change in the trend. On 27th August 2024, the THYSO through its official letterhead notified for a Cleanliness Drive under the banner “Give Clean a Chance” on 2nd October 2024 from Thingrasa Hungpung (near PNB bank Ukhrul town) to Hungsei, Hungpung, near Ukhrul dist. hospital. Hunphun village apex bodies notified through Village official letter on 1st October 2024. The timing of notifying the public without prior communication with the concerned authority (THYSO/Hungpung VA in this case) begs a question of the intent. As the series of events unfold, for keen observers, a conclusion can be drawn that it was a premeditated attack.
As in previous years, volunteers were dispatched to assist or supervise the Cleanliness Drive from Thingrasa to Hungsei, an area that falls within the jurisdiction of Hungpung Village. Volunteers (for assisting and supervising) on the Cleanliness Drive were attacked. Several video clips went viral, including an out-of-context video clip that seems to have misled the public. This incident, more or less a case of land dispute, would require a revisit to the history of the land.
Thingrasa: An age-old boundary
Historically, the boundary between the two villages is located at Thingrasa (the site where an exchange of gunfire took place). Thingrasa, as the boundary between the two villages, is an oral covenant well-known and accepted by all; one of unsound mind may be exempted here.
In the early period, the progenitors of Hungpung first settled at Phungrei (the present areas of Phungreitang & Khampasom) and Hamleikhong (a place associated with the popular Hungpung pottery).
The present Hamleikhong is the ancestral home of the three potter clans of Hungpung village, namely, Chahongnao, Yazingnao, and Varingnao. Hamleikhong is originally the name of the rock mortar used for grinding hard rocks and ingredients for making earthen pots. They collected the hard rock from the Rakhāng River (Veikhang area) and ground it in the rock mortar/Hamleikhong.
At present, one rock mortar is located at the Mini Secretariat Compound and the other at Mr. Paisho’s residence [Near the D.C. Office]. In addition to oral histories, the account of Hungpung pottery is well recorded in T.C. Hodson’s “The Naga Tribes of Manipur” (1911).
The ancestral royal homestead (Shimphung) of the Hungpung Chief remains to this day at Phungrei (now Phungreitang) near the present PWD office/Town Hall/Ava Market.
The peripheral landmass of Phungreitang and the area around Thingrasa were primarily cultivated by Hungpung citizens as farmland/Jhumland. In those periods, Hunphun village was at SOMSAI, as the place name itself indicates.
Over time, upon the need to consolidate the Hungpung territorial boundary, the Hungpung King named Leishap went to mark his boundary toward the hillside of present Viewland, where he met the Hunphun Chief on a similar mission.
According to oral accounts, both kings laid claims to the land. The claims and counterclaims did not go beyond a slight difference of opinions during a friendly dialogue. They resorted to a simple traditional method to settle the boundary between the two villages.
The agreement was to go back to their respective homes for the day and meet the following day. Wherever they met would be the boundary.
Oral narratives state that the Hunphun Chief rose before dawn and set out early. On the other hand, the Hungpung Chief took time to drink and smoke his pipe leisurely and set out late for the journey.
He met the Hunphun Chief just a few hundred yards from his house (that is, from the present PWD office/Town Hall/Ava Market). True to their word, they decided that the place where they met should be the boundary.
Coincidentally, or as fate would have it, they noticed that the branches of two trees on either side of the hill depression were interlaced like they were embracing each other. They named the place Thingrasa, meaning “trees in wedlock.” From then on, Thingrasa became the boundary between the two villages.
Breaking the oath vis-a-vis the “neutral zone”
The honesty of the old soon faded. The vows of the two great kings came to mean nothing but something to be manipulated. Access to British administrative processes during the British period eased the process of manipulation for Hunphun village. Whether SDO L.L. Peters, a British Administrator, acted out of adventurousness or “her ill-fate” aided the process is hard to tell at this point.
However, it is clear that it was SDO L.L. Peter who coined the term ‘Neutral Zone’ in this context. Oral histories from different sources affirm that the idea of a “neutral zone” was invented to administratively encroach on Hungpung village land with an ulterior motive to advance Hunphun village’s expansionist policy.
Unlike their forefathers, the younger generations of Hunphun village soon began to claim the land up to Ngashan Kathuk (known as “Ngaphar Kathuk” to Hunphun village), Hamleikhong of Hungpung village. Ever since, the tension between the two villages over boundaries has surfaced and resurfaced over the course of history.
Hunphun’s expansionist policy
To this day, Hungpung Village has been accommodating to other Tangkhul brethren from other villages, keeping in mind that most of its land has been bought or transferred to private ownership in town areas. However, the continued aggression of Hunphun Village through the All Hunphun Tang Association (AHTA) continues to exert control over various zones of Phungreitang, including parts of Hamleikhong of Hungpung village.
Such devious organizational schemes are deemed unacceptable not just to Hungpung Village but also to the entire Tangkhul brethren residing in Ukhrul town.
It is also crucial to call out the similar expansionist designs of Hunphun village regarding the usage of the term “Hunphun/Ukhul” and “Ukhrul Katamnao Long” in their organizational letterhead and functioning. Hunphun is a village in the northern part of Ukhrul town and cannot be synonymously used as Ukhrul.
Ukhrul is a town established in the shared jurisdiction of Hunphun and Hungpung village. This indisputable fact must be known by every resident of Ukhrul town and must be corrected without being duped or complicit in such designs. Otherwise, peace in Ukhrul town will continue to remain elusive.
Was the firing a premeditated attack?
It is important to note that the Hunphun aggression on THYSO’s cleanliness drive was a well-devised one. It was a coordinated set-up. Hunphun village secretly coordinated in connivance with Ukhrul Police from the station located at Tangrei, Hunphun.
The wounds borne by the victims are from automatic weapons. No layman could ever be so accurate when first handling an automatic weapon. The wounds were inflicted during the first ambush attack, in the first round of firing that injured four THYSO volunteers assisting or supervising the Cleanliness Drive. Three out of the four injured were referred to Imphal for medical emergency.
This means the Hunphun villagers were already in possession of automatic weapons at the time of the ambush. This raises the question of where the automatic weapons came from. [Did they come from the Police Station at Tangrei?]
According to eyewitnesses around the area, some armed Hunphun villagers had already taken positions around the adjacent area (Viewland) before the THYSO members assembled for the said Cleanliness Drive.
In a defensive turn by THYSO with reinforcement from villagers, the situation intensified into a firing clash between Hunphun village and Hungpung village, which unfortunately left several people injured (30 plus) on both sides, with four of them dead, including a Manipur Rifle personnel who succumbed to injury.
It may be mentioned that the MR security personnel was shot dead by Hunphun armed miscreants.
Complicit role of Ukhrul Police and administration
As reported in the Imphal Free Press, “eight 9 mm pistols, six INSAS rifles, three AK-47s, two 9 mm carbines, one SLR, and one sten gun” were said to have been ransacked by the Hunphun mob. It is beyond belief that a mob from a village could decamp a police station at a district headquarters.
This raises the question of whether the weapons were cordially handed over, stolen, or robbed. Each situation calls for different conditions. If robbed, the policemen would bear bruises and cuts on their bodies. Firing may have occurred. But the populace did not hear any firing in or around the Police Station at Tangrei, Ukhrul.
Volunteers coming from Hungpung village were blocked at Ngashan Kathuk while those from Hunphun Village were allowed to come to the THINGRASA (firing spot). Was it a case of mismanagement of conflict or a bias towards one and a malice towards the other?
A stringent investigation may be conducted to punish the police personnel who sided with mobs. If not, the district administration is also complicit in this violence and will be held accountable. The district administration must thoroughly investigate this matter and the policemen involved should be immediately suspended.
The way forward
The history of the Land and the People must be respected, and so must the vow taken in the name of GOD by our forefathers must be protected and restored.
The ransacked/robbed/supplied state weapons should be returned to the police at the earliest with evidence to Hungpung authorities. Or else Hungpung will not stay idle. Those policemen involved in the complicit role must be strictly dealt with according to the law of the state.
The operation of all organisational designs like All Hunphun Tang Association (AHTA), “Hunphun/Ukhrul” usage of the term, “Ukhrul Katamnao Long” in Ukhrul Town areas must be withdrawn for a better cause, likewise of THYSO. This could be done collectively by our Tangkhul Brethren in the form of disassociation/dissension to such schemes.
Despite the grievances and emotional injuries, both parties need to think from a broader perspective, perhaps towards a kind of municipal model. All are kindly requested to think twice before misinterpreting this – benevolence of Hungpung village towards the growth and development of the whole Tangkhul Nagas – for anything else. Hungpung village is open to dialogue under conditions for such proposals for the common good of all the Tangkhul populace.
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