A video is being spread around social media which the Kukis call a smear campaign of lies against them with subtitles on the video.
The video which was stirring up much unrest due to its inciting words turned out to be inserted with false subtitles and as the Kukis say, it was done to slander them.
Meitei Tribe Nong from Twitter shared:
@NongVnong8
“Silent Peace March or Inciting Genocide of Meiteis?
Kuki hate speeches:
“Kill Meiteis Kill Meiteis”
“Get out Meiteis”
“If we see any Meiteis we will blow up their heads”
“We do not need to be afraid, We have support from Myanmar and Xtian states”
Crowd: Kill them Kill them!
“Kill Meiteis Kill Meiteis”
The actual words were:
All those wearing vests are requested to line up in front of the coffins.
Those who aren’t wearing vests, face towards the stage.
Vest-wearing youths line up near the coffins and the rest, face this way.
Those wearing vests, please queue up in 3 lines, as requested by the supervisors, please queue up in 3 lines
To those still arriving, those of us who are already here show you our welcome
Now we will begin with the program
We now give time to Miss Mangnunmawi to sing the song ‘Pitu thianmang muang in (Trusting in the God who guides us)
— Biak Tonsing (@biak777) July 22, 2023
In reality, the Kukis were conducting a silent coffin march in memory of the hundreds of Kukis slaughtered by the Meitei radicals during the month of May 2023. During this silent march, there was no mention of killing Meiteis. The Kukis instead were marching to drumbeats, clapping hands and a speaker was making announcements instructing them the order of the event.
Most of the Meiteis spreading this news deleted their tweets eventually when it was pointed out that it was fake and some of them even warned the ones spreading this inciting video that they would charge them with an FIR, which was why they promptly deleted their tweets.
Biak Tonsing translated the correct words and tweeted: “8k+ already re-tweet by people. It hurts me to see the wrong translation of the video. Not even 1 sentence is correct. How can someone stoop this low?”
As of May 3rd, 2023, India’s north-eastern state of Manipur witnessed a distressing outbreak of ethnic violence. The conflict ensued between two distinct communities: the Meitei people, who primarily adhere to Hindu beliefs and reside in the Imphal Valley, and the predominantly Christian tribal community hailing from the neighboring hills, including the Kuki people. Tragically, the violence has led to a significant loss of life, with 142 people reported killed as of July 4th, along with over 300 individuals sustaining injuries. Furthermore, the unrest has resulted in a staggering displacement of approximately 54,488 individuals, adding to the severity of the humanitarian crisis in the region.
Thus, the few videos still floating around such as below could cause more damage as the information is not only false but could incite trouble.
Silent Peace March or Inciting Genocide of Meiteis?
Kuki hate speeches:
"Kill Meiteis Kill Meiteis"
"Get out Meiteis"
"If we see any Meiteis we will blow up their heads"
"We dont need to be afraid, We have support from Myanmar and Xtian states"
Crowd: Kill them Kill them! pic.twitter.com/Nx12EFx21L— Meitei Tribe Nong (@NongVnong8) July 21, 2023