The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), an organisation of the Kuki-Zo people, reiterated its demand for a separate administration for its member tribes after the bodies of 12 youths were laid to rest in Manipur’s Churachandpur district on Thursday (December 5, 2024).
The organisation demanded a judicial probe into the killing of 10 of these 12 youths by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the police in the State’s Jiribam district on November 11. Two others were killed in separate incidents a few days later.
The ITLF said the deceased were “village volunteers” while the security forces had called them “armed militants”.
The forum said none of the 10 killed by the CRPF was an extremist. It said one was a painter, another a computer store owner, and the others were masons who worked on construction sites when not on duty at the frontlines.
“The post-mortem reports of the deceased clearly show that the men were shot from the back, proving that they were not engaged in a gunfight with security forces when they were gunned down,” the ITLF wrote in its letter to Home Minister Amit Shah.
It said the Kuki-Zo youths could have been ambushed or murdered after being captured. It questioned the “moral and ethical conduct” of the paramilitary force as the bodies of some had more than a dozen bullet wounds, mostly from behind, and pointed out that an eye each of four of the deceased was missing, indicating they were gouged out.
“In light of the available facts, we demand a judicial inquiry into the deaths of the 10 Kuki-Zo volunteers so that justice is served to them and their families,” the ITLF said, adding “…the men were out on patrol to protect their fellow tribals because of the attack on Zairawn village by Meitei gunmen — a duty that the CRPF was supposed to perform but failed.”
The forum insisted that a separate administration for the Kuki-Zo people under the Constitution was the only option for them to live a life free of discrimination and subjugation. “As for the path to lasting peace, a militarily enforced tranquillity cannot bring permanent normalcy to a State that is now physically divided by buffer zones. A political solution that will ensure physical safety and dignity for all citizens is the only way forward,” it said.
Mizoram delegation
Earlier, hundreds of people gathered in black attires and paid their last respects at the Peace Ground in Churachandpur’s Tuibong before the mass burial at the Martyrs Cemetery in Sekhen village. The event included a gun salute by the “village volunteers”.
A delegation from Mizoram, including the leaders of the Young Mizo Association and Ginzalal Hauzel, the adviser to Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma, attended the event. They paid homage by covering the coffins with traditional shawl.
In a separate memorandum to Mr. Shah, civil society organisations (CSOs) representing the Kuki-Zo people in the Tengnoupal district, opposed the proposed fencing along the India-Myanmar border. The memorandum was submitted through Letpao Haokip, Manipur’s Minister for Tribal Affairs and Hills.
The CSOs said the project threatens to sever ancestral ties and disrupt the very fabric of their existence.
“The Kuki-Zo people, who have lived along the India-Myanmar border for generations, fear that the fencing will isolate their communities, cut off cross-border cultural and social connections, and violate their historical rights. This is not just a fence; it is a line that divides families, shatters traditions, and erodes centuries-old cultural heritage,” they said.
