Guwahati: The tribal leaders of Kuki Zo community called for a thorough investigation into the deaths of ten 'village volunteers', who were gunned down by CRPF personnel during the recent violence at Jiribam in Manipur even as thousands of mourners attended the condolence programme at Peace Ground at Lamka in Churachandpur on Thursday.
Thousands of people gathered at the Peace Ground in Lamka and paid their last respects to the 12 civilians, who were killed during the recent violence in Jiribam. The 12 includes the ten youth, who were killed during an encounter with CRPF on November 11 and two others who were killed by unidentified gunmen around the time.
The bodies of the village volunteers, which were taken from the morgue to their respective homes the previous evening, were brought to the funeral programme at Peace Ground, Tuibuong, Lamka. All tribe leaders paid their homage to the martyrs by covering their coffins with the customary traditional shawl.
A delegation from Mizoram, including Young Mizo Association (CYMA) leaders and advisor to Mizoram Chief Minister, Pu Ginzalal Hauzel, attended the ceremony. They also showed their respect and honours by putting traditional shawls over the coffins of the 'martyrs'.
The burial ceremony was held in the afternoon at Martyrs Cemetery, where the bodies were laid to rest. The programme included speeches by the families of the 'martyrs' and a gun salute by village volunteers.
Memorandum to Union Home Minister
Meanwhile, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) in a memorandum to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanded a judicial inquiry into the killing of the ten Kuki Zo youth by the CRPF and urged him to start laying the groundwork for a separate administration for the Kuki Zo people in Manipur. The ITLF reminded the Centre that it has been 19 months since the outbreak of the ethnic conflict in Manipur, with no signs of a return to normalcy and the minority Kuki-Zo community continuing to suffer at the hands of Meitei militants, the communal state government, and now at the hands of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
"It is no secret that each spate of violence in the past year started with unprovoked attacks on tribals for reasons best known to the state government, which is supporting Meitei militants, who openly flaunt looted weapons in the streets of the capital and use them to attack tribal villages. The latest round of violence, which started with the burning of Zairawn village in Jiribam district and the horrific murder of a 31-year-old tribal woman, has resulted in the deaths of 13 Kuki-Zo people. What makes this episode more worrying for the minority community is that 10 tribals were killed by the CRPF, which was supposed to act as a neutral force," the ITLF said in the memorandum to Shah.
"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. They were most likely ambushed or murdered after being captured. Also, all of them were shot multiple times (some had more than a dozen bullet wounds, mostly entering from their back), raising further questions about the moral and ethical conduct of the paramilitary force in using such excessive lethal force. Four of the bodies were also desecrated, with each missing an eye, indicating that they were gouged out. What prompted the CRPF personnel to mutilate the bodies?" they asked.
"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. We also urge you to start laying the groundwork for a separate administration for the Kuki Zo people under the aegis of the Indian constitution so that we can live a life free of discrimination and subjugation," the ITLF said.
