Manipur: Funeral of 12 Kuki-Zo men to be held on Dec 5

PTI, CHURACHANDPUR, DECEMBER 1, 2024 :  The funeral of 12 Kuki-Zo men, including the 10 killed in a gunfight with CRPF in Jiribam, will be held in Manipur's Churachandpur district on December 5, a leading organisation of the community said. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) held an emergency meeting on Saturday, following which the announcement was made.

Earlier, ITLF had decided that the funeral of the Kuki-Zo youths would not be conducted until their post-mortem reports were handed to the families.

"The post-mortem reports were examined together by a forensic and legal expert. According to the experts, the post-mortem reports are satisfactory," the ITLF said in a public notice.

The organisation, however, said it would continue to pursue the legal cases related to the deceased people.

"Our 12 martyrs will be laid to rest with the greatest honour and respect on December 5, 2024. The programme for condolences will take place at Peace Ground in Tuibuong," it said. The ITLF also decided that on the day of the burial, a massive silent rally would be organised.

"Out of the 12 deceased, 10 were killed by CRPF in the gun battle. The other two were Kuki youths killed by Meitei militants when they were visiting their families," ITLF secretary Muan Tombing told PTI.

Post-mortem examinations of the 10 Kuki-Zo men, whom the ITLF claimed were village volunteers against the Manipur government's assertion that they were militants, were conducted at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) in Assam. The autopsy of one of the other two youths was conducted in Aizawl, while the remaining one was done at SMCH, Tombing said.

Announcing that there will be a total shutdown on December 5 as a mark of respect for the deceased youths, ITLF asked students' groups to arrange placards and banners for the rally.

After the bodies reached Churachandpur, they were kept at the morgue of a local hospital. More than 250 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May last year.