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In Manipur, families wait for bodies of loved ones, tribal leaders pledge ‘grand’ joint burial

Kukis in Churachandpur are yet to bury those who died in clashes with Meiteis and are adamant about burying them together after all unclaimed, unidentified bodies are brought home.

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Imphal: Sehkhohao Kipgen, 35, was among the first casualties of the ethnic clashes between Manipur’s tribal Kukis and non-tribal Meiteis that began 3 May.

On the day the violence broke out, and before the internet was suspended, a video went viral. In the clip, Kipgen, a Kuki pastor, is purportedly seen struggling to escape a mob that had surrounded him in Imphal. He ducks as kicks and punches rain down on him from every direction, but then a hard blow from a thick wooden stick on the back of his head brings him down.

That final hit took Kipgen’s life.

Local Kukis who were at the spot later told his family that his body was thrown into a drain, and they couldn’t pull it out since the drain was in a Meitei-dominated colony.

It has been 29 days since Kipgen’s killing, but his family in Churachandpur is still waiting for his body. They have, however, got confirmation from volunteers in the district that it was eventually recovered and is currently lying in the mortuary of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal.

ThePrint visited RIMS, but was not able to get a comment from the hospital. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.

According to data collated by Kuki non-profit organisations, between 3 and 31 May, 80 tribals have died in clashes across the state. While 32 bodies remain untraced, 16 are at the RIMS mortuary and another six at the mortuary of the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS). Another 23 bodies have been kept in the Churachandpur district hospital, while three more have been recovered in other districts.

“The untraceable bodies may also be in the mortuaries at RIMS and JNIMS, but these have to be identified first. There is no way we can do this as tribal people cannot go to Imphal,” said Ginza Vualzong, spokesperson of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum.

With lines of communication between Churachandpur and Imphal snapped since the beginning of the violence, the families are unsure of how much longer it will take before they can give their dead a proper burial.

The tribals have not even buried the 23 bodies at Churachandpur district hospital. “We are waiting for all the bodies which are in mortuaries in Imphal to be returned to us. We will bury them in a grand ceremony,” said Vualzong.


Also read: ‘Led to ethnic violence’ — Shah says Manipur HC order on ST status for Meiteis ‘given in haste’


Mortuaries full

With each passing day, the stench of rotting flesh wafting into the Churachandpur Medical College, located next to the district hospital, grows stronger. The hospital mortuary, which has the capacity to hold 12 bodies, was full by day three of the conflict.

With the firing on border villages of the district continuing and the dead piling up at the hospital, a ground floor hall in the anatomy building of the medical college has been cleared to accommodate more bodies. Two split air conditioners are on 24×7 and camphor is sprinkled around coffins, but all of this helps little to suppress the odour.

“Only 12 bodies are in the freezers. The bodies will start decaying in the heat. We have embalmed a few of them, but not all,” said Zam Lian Mang Hatzaw, medical officer at Churachandpur district hospital.

But the tribals are adamant. They will wait till all the bodies are transported from Imphal and then bury them together — as long as it takes.

This was also one of the first issues that the tribal leaders discussed with Union Home Minister Amit Shah when he visited Churachandpur Tuesday.

“Our dead bodies should be identified and brought home for proper burial without any further delay. We would like to give our martyrs befitting honourable last rites,” said the memorandum, which ThePrint has seen, handed to the home minister by the tribal leaders.


Also read: ‘Solve this soon, don’t want more to die’ — what violence-hit Manipur’s tribal leaders told Amit Shah


Zero FIRs to trace the missing

The riots between the Meiteis and Kukis have brought the fault lines between the two communities to the surface. In Kuki-dominated areas, Meitei homes and businesses were burnt down and razed to the ground and in Meitei-dominated areas, Kukis have been flushed out, their properties looted and burnt.

The road connecting Churachandpur to Imphal turned into a war zone. ThePrint earlier reported how Meitei women stood blocking the road to the hill district and prevented the central security forces from crossing over.

On the same 64 km road, vehicles are checked by Meitei locals till Kangvai village to see if anyone from the Kuki tribe is crossing over. Similarly, Kuki volunteers stand guard at the border of Churachandpur to check for any Meiteis. People have been reportedly dragged and beaten by mobs.

At the peak of the conflict, ThePrint reported how many of the injured were transported from Imphal to Churachandpur, but only under the protection of security forces.

Meanwhile, lawyers in Churachandpur are helping local residents file missing people complaints as zero FIRs. A ‘zero FIR’ is one that is filed in any police station, regardless of the jurisdiction of the branch. It is later transferred to the appropriate police station.

The FIRs started getting registered at Churachandpur police station from 15 May, when a majority of displaced Kukis reached Churachandpur from Imphal and other areas.

Close to 1,000 zero FIRs have been lodged already. A bunch of these are on the missing people, but most of the others are about looting and burning of property in Imphal.

According to the Churachandpur police, almost a 100 FIRs get registered daily, but with travelling to Imphal by road becoming increasingly difficult and all remaining policemen in the district being Kukis — Meitei policemen have fled to Imphal — the FIRs are piling up in folders and not reaching their final destination. Majority of these FIRs are from Imphal, which saw maximum damage to life and property of the tribals.

“Though we are lodging FIRs here, these will be transported once the fighting settles. Right now, it is too risky to send the FIRs by road,” said N. Thangzamuan, officer-in-charge, Churachandpur police station.

Around two weeks ago, the Churachandpur and Imphal police stations sent human couriers till Kangvai village — located at the border of Churachandpur and Bishnupur — where a Muslim policeman from Churachandpur and a Meitei policeman from Imphal exchanged around 200 FIRs.

Though both were dressed in civilian clothes, the transaction was still deemed too risky and hasn’t been repeated since.

“Meitei women are blocking the roads and they are checking people’s belongings. If they see the contents of the FIRs, they will destroy them as most of the accused in these FIRs are Meiteis. We cannot take the risk as crucial evidence attached with the FIRs may get destroyed,” said Khenthang Ngaite, head constable, Churachandpur police station.

Meanwhile, another policeman who did not want to be named said that besides the women, men from the Meitei armed group Arambai Tenggol also check and destroy property and documents at Moirang — a Meitei-dominated area in Bishnupur district which saw violence in the past and still remains volatile.

“We are afraid that Arambai Tenggol might attack our policemen,” said Ngaite.

However, Khuraijam Athouba, executive member of the Coordination Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), told ThePrint: “The checking of vehicles was not about the Kukis. It was generally for the Indian Army convoy, especially the Assam Rifles. People were losing confidence in them and were alleging that they were siding with the Kukis at various foothill areas.”

Endless wait for loved ones lost

This is the same road though which the bodies can be transported from Imphal. For the Kukis to cross this road to go to Imphal and identify their dead, currently seems impossible.

According to sources, proposals are being made to the central government that families be taken to hospitals in Imphal under Army protection, or to somehow enable people to identify the bodies of their loved ones via video calls, but the matter has not progressed yet.

“My husband died so close to the village, yet his body was taken to Imphal. We wish to see him last time and give him a proper farewell,” said Nengjahoi, wife of Sehkhohao Kipgen, who has been living in a relief camp in Churachandpur since 3 May with her mother-in-law and her three children — two of them aged 4 and 2.5 years, and the third just 11 months old.

Nengjahoi still cannot bring herself to watch the video of her husband being attacked. Her grief is mixed with anger against the state.

“I blame Chief Minister Biren Singh for his death. He failed to maintain peace. He is one-sided,” she added.

This is part of ThePrint’s ground coverage in Manipur. More stories on how different sides have suffered will be published as this reporter travels to different parts of the violence-hit state.

(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)


Also read: Manipur’s peaceful Sugnu region sees violence ahead of Amit Shah’s visit — 2 Kukis killed, 9 injured


 

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