The Kuki Students’ Organization, Churachandpur has lodged a criminal complaint against Mr. Tapta Jayenta Loukrakpam, a renowned Meitei singer, for calling for the genocide of the Kuki community through his song, ‘Kukiland’ published by him on July 7, 2023.
The song calls for killing and overall elimination of the entire Kuki community and has made false, indecent and objectionable statements about the Kukis, thereby promoting enmity, hatred and ill- will.
The students’ body requested Churachandpur Police to take urgent action against Mr. Tapta for the various cognizable offences committed by him under, interalia, Sections 153A, 153B, 294, 505(2), 509, Indian Penal Code, 1860; Sections 3(1)(r), (u), (w)(ii) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2002.
In its complaint letter, KSO stated that Mr. Tapta was promoting hatred, enmity and violence against the Kuki-Zo community through his derogatory, demeaning and outrageous song – ‘Kukiland’, which he released on July 7, 2023. The lyrics of the song suggests for complete eradication of the Kuki-Zo community by killing each one of them.
KSO said: “Tapta’s song, which threatens the mere existence of the entire community in Manipur, is promoting animosity and violence against Kukis, as is evident from the following excerpts of an English translation of his song:
“They let them farm poppies, and share the profits, making Army take their sides, then they offer up their AIDs ridden sisters to Army. Once the Army loosen their grip, the Kukis shall be eliminated. What you want is a homeland, what we desire is your soul. Even if dialogues are made and peace returns, Meiteis will not stop this war and they will never have peace until every Kuki is killed.”
In addition to his brazen call for genocide against the Kukis, Mr. Tapta’s song has also made distasteful and derogatory remarks against the entire Kuki community and is especially demeaning of Kuki women by insinuating that they are disease-ridden with AIDS – a sexually transmissible disease – and are being offered to the Army in exchange for their support to the Kukis, KSO stated.
“Mr. Tapta’s song has not only created a false narrative imbued with hate about my community as a whole, but has also objectified and painted the women of my community in a demeaning light by falsely implying that Kuki women are offered to the Army for their support,” the complaint letter stated, while adding that witnessing the carnage that every Kuki has suffered in Manipur in the last two months, such songs only feed into our fears – instilled by the rampant and incessant violence against the Kukis since the last two months.
KSO also said by intentionally intimidating and insulting the members of the Kuki community, and by objectifying and demeaning the women of the Kuki community by imputing acts of sexual nature on the women of the Kuki community, Mr. Tapta has committed grave offences stipulated under sub-clauses (u) and (w)(ii) of sub-section (1), Section 3 of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
“Mr. Tapta is a popular and renowned singer in Manipur with fan-following from all communities, including even Kukis. In light of his popularity and influence amongst both the Kuki and Meitei communities, Mr. Tapta, through his songs and statements, has the ability to effectively spread his hateful and false narratives thereby inciting more fear and hate driven violence in Manipur and deepening the divide between the two communities.”
It further stated that from the public reports available, Mr. Tapta also seemed to be unapologetic about spreading hate and instigating violence and has even refused to take down the song from the public domain. His relentless effort to create animosity against the Kukis is evident from his interview to The Quint published on July 12, 2023, wherein he stands by his song and continues to threaten the lives of Kukis.
The Kuki Students’ Organization, therefore, urged that there is an urgent need to stop the spread of such inciteful songs by taking immediate action against Mr. Tapta, who has committed serious cognizable offences and called upon the Police to take urgent action in accordance with the law of the land, to curtail the impact Mr. Tapta’s influence through his song and public statements.
