Decode Politics: Who is Mark T Haokip, and has his release been sought in Manipur kidnapping?

On Wednesday, normal life was affected in the five Imphal Valley districts due to a shutdown called by the Meitei group Joint Action Committee over the kidnapping of the two youths. The Manipur Congress has called the ongoing crisis a total failure of the law and order situation. State Congress chief K Meghachandra said that at a recent meeting with CM N Biren Singh, they urged him to seek the assistance of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to rescue the two youths.

Arrested in 2022, Haokip is under the custody of the NIA. Here is why his name cropping up is significant:

Who is Mark T Haokip?

Haokip, a 39-year-old human rights activist from Churachandpur, is the state president of the International Human Rights Association (IHRA) based in Manipur and Myanmar. He was very vocal in his criticism of the N Biren Singh-led Manipur government, accusing it of following anti-Kuki policies.

On May 24, 2022, Haokip was arrested from his temporary residence in Delhi by a Manipur Police team under charges that included “promoting communal disharmony through social media posts”. One post in particular created a lot of controversy, as it said that the area of the erstwhile kingdom of Manipur (valley areas populated by the Meiteis) was just over 700 sq miles. Manipur proper only comprised that area, Haokip said, while the rest belonged to the hill people and could not be considered a part of the state. The total area of Manipur is 8,620 sq miles.

After his arrest, Haokip was taken to Imphal and, soon after, the Manipur Police said their investigation had shown that he was involved in a conspiracy for “secession from India and to wage or attempt to wage war, or abetting waging of war against the Government of India” and was raising funds for terror and offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Police also called him the self-styled president of an outfit called the ‘Government of the People’s Democratic Republic of Kukiland’ which aims to establish a Kuki nation.

What happened after Haokip’s arrest?

The arrest in May 2022 was one of the first major flashpoints in the tensions between Manipur’s Meitei community, which largely lives in its valley districts, and the Kuki-Zomi community, concentrated in some hill districts. The violence that is ongoing now started a year after that first strain.

Major protests were first seen in Churachandpur, and were further fuelled by CM Biren Singh calling Haokip a “Myanmarese”, a charge his family refuted.  Protesters demanding his immediate release clashed with police leading to multiple injuries on both sides.

The IHRA said the arrest showed “an apparent bias of the Government of Manipur against the Kukis, implicit in the majoritarian shift of the Manipur Government towards a Meitei-centric government”.

What is the status of the case against Haokip?

In August, a special court’s order granting ‘default bail’ to Haokip in charges under the UAPA was set aside by the Manipur High Court, which rejected his petition that the chargesheet against him was “incomplete”.

The special court of the NIA in Imphal had granted ‘default bail’ to Haokip on the grounds that the investigators did not take the prosecution’s sanction while filing the chargesheet, thus making it “incomplete”.

But the High Court held that a chargesheet filed without the prosecution’s sanction was not necessarily an “incomplete” chargesheet.

What have the kidnappers said regarding Haokip?

While Haokip continues to be in judicial custody, his family has distanced itself from reports of the Kukis seeking his return in exchange of the two abductees.

A statement by his father said, “We, the family of Dr Mark T. Haokip would like to clarify that we have no knowledge about the said/alleged proposal and at the same time would like to state that the case of Dr Mark T. Haokip is subjudice and any recourse has to be taken through legal means. We, therefore, fervently appeal to all the communities of the state not to sensationalise the issue and add to our mental agony, but rather uphold and trust the rule of law.”

Thangtinlen Haokip of the Committee on Tribal Unity – a civil society group based in Kangpokpi – has emphasized that the main demand of the kidnappers is the shifting of the inmates out of a jail in Imphal.

A senior police official, while not elaborating on what the demands raised by the abductors were, said their focus was to secure the unconditional release of the inmates without engaging with any demands.