Manipur: Kuki body postpones mass burial at Union govt’s request
The Manipur high court earlier on Thursday directed status quo ante at the proposed burial site and asked central and state governments and other parties to seek an amicable settlement
A conglomerate of Kuki groups on Thursday postponed until next week the mass burial of 35 Kukis killed in the ongoing ethnic clashes with the dominant Meiteis at S Boljang village in Churachandpur district.
The burials were delayed at the Union home ministry’s request even as security was tightened in parts of the state. The Manipur high court earlier on Thursday directed status quo ante at the proposed burial site and asked central and state governments and other parties to seek an amicable settlement.
Meitei groups criticised the conglomerate, Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), over the proposed mass burial and said it will provoke the people’s sentiments further.
ITLF planned a programme to honour the 35 followed by a mass burial. Ginza Vualzong, a spokesman for the conglomerate, said they had an overnight meeting that continued till 4am on Thursday and that the ministry requested them to delay the burial for five days. “...if we comply, we will be allowed burials at the same location and the government will legalise the land for the burial.”
Vualzong said the request also came from the Mizoram chief minister N Biren Singh. He said after long deliberation, they agreed to consider the request provided they got a written assurance on five demands.
ITLF has demanded that Meitei state security forces should not be deployed in the hill districts where Kukis reside. They have also sought legalisation of the burial site, return of bodies of Kuki at two hospitals in Imphal, “total separation from Manipur” and transfer of tribal jail inmates lodged in prisons in Imphal to other states.