Choro, Manipur

Choro
Choro Khunou, Zingshophai Choro
Village
Interactive map of Choro
Choro is located in Manipur
Choro
Choro
Location in Manipur, India
Choro is located in India
Choro
Choro
Choro (India)
Coordinates: 24°34′33″N 94°29′14″E / 24.5757°N 94.4871°E / 24.5757; 94.4871
Country India
StateManipur
DistrictKamjong
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total
94
Language(s)
 • OfficialMeitei
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
Websitemanipur.gov.in

Choro is a village in Kamjong district, Manipur, India, as per the Government of Manipur. The village has a complex and messy history, starting as a small Kuki village in 1947, and suffering displacement during the Kuki–Naga conflict. Its latest incarnation is a Tangkhul Naga village called Zingshophai Choro (Z. Choro), which is apparently in the Kabaw Valley in Myanmar territory, but the Government of Manipur and the civil society organisations of Manipur claim otherwise.[2][3]

Geography

Area around Choro (SoI, 1944)

The Gazetteer of Manipur (1886) mentions a peak called "Choro", 3,440 feet (1,050 m) (24°39′02″N 94°30′15″E / 24.6506°N 94.5043°E / 24.6506; 94.5043 (Choro peak)), which is the tallest peak in the area.[4] However, later sources avoid the term "Choro" and simply mention it as Peak 3440. The peak is situated on the bounding mountain range of the Manipur state, called the Yomadong range, beyond which lies the Kabaw Valley, part of Myanmar. The border between Manipur and Kabaw Valley, called the Pemberton Line, runs at the foothills of the Yomadong range. It was demarcated by British Raj in the late 19th century by installing 39 border pillars.[5][6] The Choro region is in the vicinity of border pillars 4–7.[a] (See map)

To the west of the Yomadong range runs another ridge parallel to it. At its northern tip, there is the village of Kangpat Khullen, which appears to have been called Kamtong in earlier times.[b] Two cross-cutting ridges link the two former ridges, joining up at the location of Kangpat (or "Kangpat Centre"). All the ridges together create a bowl, which is drained by a stream called Kamtonglok. The stream debouches into the Maklang River, the largest river in the area, which, after entering the Kabaw Valley, takes the name Yu River. The Choro village is traditionally located within the Kamtonglok bowl.[7]

The "Yomadong range" is not a continuous range, but a chain made up of several stretches of hill ranges. In the present area, to the north of the Maklang River, it is made up of a range called Tapung Lhang, with a peak Makokching, 3,035 feet (925 m) (24°36′09″N 94°28′31″E / 24.6024°N 94.4752°E / 24.6024; 94.4752 (Makokching peak)), followed by a short range with Peak 3440, and a longer range called Molvailup Inchokaphung further north.[8][9]

The 1944 survey map shows Choro to be close to the Makokching peak, as does the 2011 census map.[7] The location is to the northwest of a small hillock that was referred to as Choroching in 1896, on which border pillar 6 was placed.[10] (It is marked as Tenseng Moul in Burmese maps).[10][11]. The Maklang River flows to the south of the hillock as it enters the Kabaw Valley, and the hillock itself extends on both the sides of the border. A village called Choro Khunou appears in Myanmar survey maps to the east of Choroching.[8]

The present-day Manipur government's map of the Kamjong Subdivision shows no village in the Choroching area, but shows one labelled Z. Choro (short for Zingshophai Choro) south of the Peak 3440, near the border with Myanmar.[12] This location is marked as Aloyo on Google maps (24°35′19″N 94°29′33″E / 24.5885°N 94.4924°E / 24.5885; 94.4924 (Aloyo)), and is often mentioned as being associated with the Choro village.[13] The real Z. Choro village is located beyond the border, in Myanmar territory, between border pillars 5 and 7.[c]

History

Kuki village

The Choro village was listed in the annexure to the 1947 Hill People's Regulation as a Kuki village. It had 8 houses and a chief named Thangkhup. There were also two Kuki villages called Kamtong Khunou and Kamtong Khullen with 18 and 14 houses respectively.[14][d] In 1956, the Choro village was listed as "Choro Kuki".[15] In the 1961 census, the Choro village had 7 households and a population of 50 people, which indicates a reduction in size, possibly due to the Kuki–Naga conflict of the late 1950s. The two Kamtong villages were consolidated into a single Kamtong village with 27 households.[16] By 1991, Choro, was listed as Choro Khullen, with 33 households and a population of 221. However, Kamtong was not listed. This again indicates a consolidation of the two villages, at least for census purposes.[17]

In the 2001 census, both the villages Choro and Kamtong went missing.[18] According to Kuki human rights organisations, both the villages were displaced in the Kuki–Naga clashes of the 1990s. Choro was abandoned on 20 November 1992 and Kamtong on 25 November.[19]

Tangkhul village

The coupling of villages as "Khullen" and "Khunou" implies a situation of an older village spawning an offshoot village.[20] So the mention of "Choro Khullen" in the 1991 census suggests the spawning of a "Choro Khunou" village, which is not to be found in any census. However a Myanmar survey map dated to 2005 placed a village called Choro Khunou to the east of the Choroching hillock in the territory of Myanmar.[8]

The headman of Choro Khunou, named Kaphungyui Acare, claimed that, in 2006, the Government of Manipur proposed to "barter" the territory of the village, measuring 1.4 square kilometres (0.54 sq mi), with Myanmar in exchange for similar territory near Moreh. He claimed that Choro Khunou and Choro Khullen were under the "jurisdiction of Choro". Choro Khunou was said to be blessed with abundant timbers, rich fertile soil favourable for all types of crops and fruits and beautiful landscape, and it should be retained in India.[21][e] In 2013, Tangkhul Naga Long, the apex body of the Tangkhul community, wrote to the Prime Minister of India urging him to abandon the proposal.[22] The Autonomous District Council of Ukhrul district also joined in the chorus, submitting a memorandum to the chief minister of Manipur.[23] A "Committee on Protection of Land in Border Fencing" was formed in August 2013, including the headman of Choro Khunou.[24] Manipur People's Party president N. Sovakiran said a 12-member team of the party had inspected the ongoing border fencing works, and were shocked to see that territory of India had been ceded to Myanmar.[25]

In 2015, the Myanmar Army entered the Choro Khunou village and claimed a 6 km stretch of land as Myanmar territory. It also seized a saw mill and some construction materials.[26][27] According to another report, the Army personnel dismantled some houses and told the villagers that the land belonged to Myanmar. This was followed by Government of India officials and surveyors visiting the site.[28] The matter was subsequently raised by Assam Rifles with the Myanmar Army, reportedly referring to the "inconsistency between what is seen in the maps and the ground reality".[29]

In 2020, the matter was raised again by Tangkhul Naga Long, referring to the village as Zingshophai Choro. It said it "strongly opposed the State Government's move to gift away [the village] to Myanmar". The headman Acare cited the implementation of developmental activities such as PMGSY, MGNREGS, IWMP etc. as justification for claiming the village in Manipur.[30] There were also reports of similar disputes regarding the border alignment at the neighbouring K. Ashang Khullen Aze village, just south of the Maklang River. However, the Ministry of External Affairs denied that there was any confusion with the border. It said that the border was "settled" as per the India-Myanmar Boundary Agreement, 1967.[31]

Demography

According to 2011 census, the Zingshophai Choro village has a population of 94 people living in 20 households.[1]

In 2020, The Sangai Express reported that the population had grown to 235 people, living in 53 households.[32]

In 2024, the village headman claimed that Zingshophai Choro was a "once-thriving village" with 1,000 households, but it had reduced to about 100 households due to intimidation by Assam Rifles forces.[33]

Notes

  1. ↑ The border pillars were renumbered in 1967 when India and Myanmar signed border agreement. The new numbers go in the reverse direction. The old border pillar 7 is the new border pillar 93. The old border pillar 4 is the new border pillar 96.
  2. ↑ It is possible that "Kamtong" and "Kangpat" are Kuki and Tangkhul names of the same locations.
  3. ↑ For example, Google Maps places the Z. Choro Baptist Church at 24°34′22″N 94°28′49″E / 24.572763°N 94.480349°E.
  4. ↑ Though there is no firm evidence, it appears that Kamtong Khullen was in the Kamtonglok bowl, whereas Kamtong Khunou was further north.
  5. ↑ As per the Myanmar survey map, this was dissimulation. The land on which Choro Khunou is situated was marked as Myanmar territory since the border was demarcated in 1896. The effort to invoke "Choro Khullen" is also odd since the village had been eliminated in the Kuki–Naga clashes of the 1990s.

References

  1. 1 2 Ukhrul District Census Handbook (2011), p. 136
  2. ↑ Myanmar army intrudes into Manipur again, The Times of India, 25 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Rajeev Bhattacharyya, Is India Planning an Exchange of Territory With Myanmar?, The Diplomat, 17 July 2026
  4. ↑ Dun, Gazetteer of Manipur (1886), p. 82.
  5. ↑ Chakravorty, British Relations with the Hill Tribes of Assam (1964), pp. 126–128.
  6. ↑ Ningthouja, Disputed Pillars at the Margins of History (2021), p. 383.
  7. 1 2 Ukhrul District Census Handbook (2011), p. 127, village 485.
  8. 1 2 3 Sheet No. 2494 06, for grid 83L-06, Survey Department, Union of Myanmar, 2005. In Brown, 83 Quad (2026)
  9. ↑ Sheet No. 2494 06, for grid 83L-10, Survey Department, Union of Myanmar, 2005. In Brown, 83 Quad (2026)
  10. 1 2 Chakravorty, British Relations with the Hill Tribes of Assam (1964), p. 126
  11. ↑ Rajeshwar Singh, Yumnam (4 December 2023), "Kabaw Valley Boundary", Imphal Times
  12. ↑ Map of Kamjong–Chassad Subdivision, Manipur Remote Sensing Applications Centre, retrieved 8 November 2024.
  13. ↑ Border villages still left to own fate with no additional security, The Sangai Express, 8 June 2026. "Only two police personnel from Kamjong police station are stationed at Choro Aloyo village where a large number of refugees from Myanmar are also taking refuge but the two police personnel are not armed."
  14. ↑ Manipur Hill People's (Administration) Regulation (1947), pp. 100–101.
  15. ↑ "Notification No. IJ/2/56", Manipur Gazette, 16 August 1956, p. 6, item 23, misspelled as "Charo Kuki". – via archive.org
  16. ↑ R. K. Birendra Singh (1961), District Census Handbook – Manipur, Census of India 1961 (PDF), Government of Manipur, p. 52
  17. ↑ Primary Census Abstract (Rural) - Manipur - 1991, Census Digital Library, 27 June 2022.
  18. ↑ Ukhrul District Census Handbook, Director of Census Operations, Manipur, 2001
  19. ↑ List of 360 Kuki Villages uprooted by Tangkhul led by NNC-Tangkhul Region and NSCN-IM Militants, Committee on Protection of Tribal Areas Manipur-Kuki Hills (COPTAM-KH), unpublished report, received 2026. (The data indicates Kamtong existed as a village till this point even if it wasn't separately listed in the census. Its head count was probably folded into that of Choro Khullen.)
  20. ↑ Yenning, Tale from Chingjaroi, Kuki aggression, political wrangling and colonial-interest, The Sangai Express, via e-pao.net, 12 July 2023.
  21. ↑ Mungchan Zimik, Choro village opposes, The Sangai Express, via e-pao.net, 2 July 2013.
  22. ↑ Myanmar objects to border fence, checkpost at Moreh, Assam Tribune, 28 June 2013. ProQuest 1372170174
  23. ↑ Save and protect Choro village, Imphal Free Press, 18 July 2013. ProQuest 1400497465
  24. ↑ Committee formed on border fencing issue, Imphal Free Press, 3 August 2013. ProQuest 1417046379
  25. ↑ Manipur organisations appeal to PM to stop encroachment by Myanmar, United News India, 3 August 2013. ProQuest 1417109160
  26. ↑ Myanmar Army Occupies Land in Manipur, The Citizen, 24 April 2015.
  27. ↑ Myanmar army intrudes into Manipur again, The Times of India, 25 April 2015.
  28. ↑ Khelen Tokchom, Myanmar 'intrudes' into Manipur land, The Telegraph (India), 25 April 2015.
  29. ↑ Choro Khunou incursion Myanmar to return seized articles, The Sangai Express, via e-pao.net, 28 April 2015.
  30. ↑ Mungchan Zimik, TNL against gifting Z Choro village to Myanmar in exchange OF land elsewhere, The Sangai Express, 6 September 2020.
  31. ↑ Rajkumar Bobichand, Manipur-Myanmar Border Dispute Resurfaces along Indo-Myanmar Boundary, Imphal Review of Arts and Politics, 23 January 2021.
  32. ↑ Mungchan Zimik, TNL against gifting Z Choro village to Myanmar in exchange OF land elsewhere, The Sangai Express, 6 September 2020.
  33. ↑ Heavy Assam Rifles presence at Manipur's Kamjong border brings life to a halt, Imphal Free Press, 19 May 2024. ProQuest 3056244981

Bibliography

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