Last rites of 12 tribals performed in Manipur; thousands join mass burial

Impha: The last rites of 12 Kuki-Zo tribals, including ten killed in the exchange of fire with the CRPF in Manipur’s Jiribam district on November 11, were performed in Churachandpur on Thursday.

Thousands of men and women joined the mass burial with tearful eyes amid a total shutdown in tribal dominated areas. Mizoram Chief Minister’s Adviser, H Ginzalala, prominent leaders of various tribal organisations, leaders of the Young Mizo Association, and Church leaders were present at the mass burial.

After memorial speeches, floral tributes and gun salute by village volunteers, the 12 bodies were buried at the Cemetery in Sehken village of Churachandpur district. Wearing black attires thousands of men and women including elderly persons joined the mass burial with tearful eyes. Before the mass burial at the Cemetery in Sehken village, people from all sections of society paid their last respects at Peace Ground in Tuibuong. According to the leaders of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), before the ceremonies of the funeral the bodies of the 12 Kuki-Zo-Hmar youths were taken out from the hospital morgue and sent to their families.

A massive silent rally was also held and thousands of people including students wearing black attires and holding placards and banners participated in it. Meanwhile, thousands of people on November 19 took part in a ‘coffin rally’ in Manipur’s Churachandpur in solidarity with the ten Kuki-Zo-Hmar tribal Village Volunteers. Jointly organised by various tribal organisations, thousands of men and women wearing black attire symbolically carried ten dummy coffins to pay homage to the ten slain youths.

After the post-mortem of all ten bodies along with two other bodies was conducted in Assam’s Silchar Medical College and Hospital, the bodies were airlifted on November 16 to Churachandpur, a Kuki-Zo-Hmar inhabited district. The Manipur Police had earlier claimed that all ten ‘militants’ were killed in retaliatory firing by the CRPF after they allegedly attacked the camp and the adjoining police station at Jakuradhor village in Jiribam district’s Borobekra sub-division on November 11. Two CRPF jawans also suffered injuries in the gun battle. However, the ITLF, Kuki-Zo Council and Hmar Students’ Association (HSA) have been claiming that all ten slain Hmar Village Volunteers were engaged to protect the villagers. –IANS