‘Disturbing’: Naga woman’s killing puts tense Manipur on the edge

Manipur has seen more than 140 deaths in the ongoing violence, which has mostly involved the Meitei and Kuki-Zomi communities. Marem is the first recorded instance of a Naga community member being killed in the violence.

According to her family, Marem was mentally challenged and went missing on Saturday morning from her residence in Langol Games Village in Imphal West district. They did not know how she ended up in Keibi area, which is nearly 20 km away from her home. According to her cousin Tabitha, the family came to know she was missing when they received a phone call around 2 pm from Marem’s native village of Pallel. The caller told the family there was information that “Lucy was apprehended by Meira Paibis (Meitei women activists)”, her cousin said.

Around 2.30 pm, the family received a phone call from the police asking them to identify a body at the mortuary at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal. “How can people be so barbaric, killing an innocent and harmless person brutally? We later learned that Lucy was killed even after identifying herself as belonging to the Maring Naga tribe. We condemn the act in the strongest terms,” said Tabitha.

On Monday, life in the state’s five Naga-dominated districts came to a standstill in response to a 12-hour shutdown called by the United Naga Council (UNC), the apex body of the Nagas. In a strong statement on Sunday, the UNC accused Meira Paibis of apprehending Maring and handing her over to members of Meitei radical group Arambai Tenggol.

In another rare move, Arambai Tenggol, which had claimed to have been dissolved in May, issued a statement on Monday condemning the killing and claiming that the group was not associated with it. The statement said the group’s objective is to “save the future of all indigenous people of Manipur”.

A common refrain among both Meitei and Naga groups is that their communities are indigenous to Manipur as opposed to the Kuki-Zomis. To express their condemnation of the killing, residents of the Keibi area demolished four houses belonging to those allegedly involved, and claimed to “excommunicate” the accused.

“We are very disturbed by the incident. We have an understanding not to harm any of the indigenous communities residing in the state,” said Anil Huidrom, the president of a local club in Keibi.

Manipur has three major ethnic groups — the Meiteis, the Nagas and the Kuki-Zomis. The Naga community has maintained its distance from the ongoing violence and the only major statements have been from the state’s 10 Naga MLAs, who have emphasised that Naga areas should not be affected in case of any kind of settlement regarding a separate administration for Kuki-Zomi areas.

However, Marem’s killing has drawn sharp reactions from Naga bodies. Naga People’s Front MLA Losii Dikho said that while the community is demanding answers and action.