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Bodies of 87 Kuki-Zo victims laid to rest in Manipur district amid tight security
The bodies of 87 Kuki-Zo victims killed in ethnic clashes in Manipur were laid to rest in a mass burial ceremony in Churachandpur district.
GUWAHATI: The bodies of 87 Kuki-Zo victims who were killed in the ongoing ethnic clashes in Manipur were on Wednesday laid to rest in a mass burial ceremony held in Churachandpur district of the northeastern state.
The burial ceremony was held in Sekhen at a location named the Kuki-Zo martyrs cemetery with tributes, Christian rituals and a gun salute by village defence volunteers. It was preceded by a meeting held in Tuibuong.
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Thousands gathered at the burial site where family members of the victims bid farewell amid emotional scenes. The coffins covered with traditional shawls and wreaths were then placed in the graves.
“We feel a deep sense of relief as the bodies of so many of our brothers and sisters were laid to rest as per our customs and rituals. It was a long wait for the families who lost their dear ones. Now the struggle for justice for those killed and the demand for a separate administration for Kuki-Zo people will continue,” said Ngaineikim, president, Kuki Women Organisation for Human Rights.
The event was held amid tight security following imposition of curfew in the entire district on Monday night for a period of two months until February 18 because of clashes between two groups of Kuki and Zomi residents that led to nearly 30 persons getting injured.
This was the second mass burial ceremony this month of Kuki-Zo victims after bodies of 64 victims of the ethnic conflict between Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities were shifted from morgues earlier this month following Supreme Court directives ending a six month--long wait.
While bodies of 60 Kuki-Zo victims were shifted from two morgues in Meitei-dominated Imphal to Kangpokpi and Churachandpur districts, remains of four Meitei victims were airlifted from a morgue in Kuki-majority Churachandpur to Imphal.
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On December 15, the 19 bodies of Kuki-Zo victims taken to Kangpokpi were laid to rest at a mass burial held in Phaijang village. The 41 bodies, which were brought to Churachandpur, along with 46 others of Kuki-Zo victims, whose remains were lying at the Churachandpur Medical College morgue, were buried on Wednesday.
The oldest among the victims buried in Churachandpur was a 70-year-old woman Domkhohoi Haokip, while the youngest was a one-month-old baby.
“I have buried my husband’s remains after a wait of more than half a year. It’s a relief for the family. I have a small baby who I will have to care for alone now. I hope the deaths of my husband and others don’t go in vain and we get a separate administration from the Manipur government,” wife of a victim told journalists.
According to Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), an umbrella body of Kuki groups in Churachandpur, apart from the 87 victims buried today, there are 11 others from the community who are missing and 41 more victims who have already been buried (this figure is in addition to the 19 Kuki-Zo victims buried last week in Kangpokpi).
Manipur has witnessed ethnic clashes between Meitei and tribal Kuki-Zo communities since May 3. The violence has claimed at least 196 lives and left around 50,000 displaced.
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Bodies of Kuki-Zo victims had remained unclaimed in Meitei-dominated Imphal and those of Meitei victims kept in Churachandpur (which is Kuki dominated) for over six months due to sharp divisions on the ground following the start of the clashes with one community not allowing the other to enter its territory.
