In Manipur, tempers flare over proposed burial of 35 violence victims, court orders status quo in early morning hearing

While 35 of the bodies in the morgue in Churachandpur are of people from the Kuki-Zomi community, who are dominant in the area, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum had directed families to not claim those bodies. This was aimed to pressure the state government into ensuring the bodies stored in Imphal are transported to Churachandpur.

Earlier this week, however, the ITLF announced that the 35 would be buried on August 3 in a “final tribute to the tribal martyrs”. The location where the burial was proposed to be held is in Torbung, an area at the border of the Kuki-Zomi dominated Churachandpur district and the Meitei dominated Bishnupur district. Significantly, Torbung is also where violence first broke out on May 3 before spreading to other parts of the state.

This choice of location set off alarms among security personnel and the Ministry of Home Affairs, with apprehensions of a possible escalation of tensions and violence because of the contested nature of the territory. The night of August 2 and 3 saw meetings taking place into the early hours of the morning among Kuki-Zomi organisations and security authorities and the Ministry of Home Affairs, with the latter pushing the outfits to reconsider the planned programme.

“We asked them not to do it there because it is a contested area. In the meantime, mobilisation of people was taking place in Bishnupur district in the night, and continued into the morning,” said a defence official.

In the meantime, another set of wheels was turning to put a stop to the planned programme. On Wednesday, an organisation called the International Meeteis Forum filed a PIL in the Manipur High Court to stop Kuki-Zomi organisations from using the location as a burial site, stating that it is government land where a sericulture farm is located.

While the matter was to be placed before the Acting Chief Justice at 10:30 am, a hearing was held at 6  am on Thursday after the Deputy Attorney General requested that the case be taken up urgently, stating that “in and around the land in question, a big mob from both communities have gathered and at any moment, violence may take place”.

The court directed that status quo of the land in question be maintained till the next date of hearing on August 9, “taking into consideration the potentiality of aggravating the already volatile law and order situation and the possibility of igniting a fresh wave of violence and bloodshed…”

Early on Thursday morning, the ITLF issued a statement that it had decided to delay the burial by five days “on the request of the Home Minister”.

“The MHA had requested us to postpone by a week, telling us that they will let us bury it there then and that they will legalise the use of the land concerned as a burial site,” claimed an ITLF leader.

On Thursday morning, instead of the burial, a memorial programme was held for the dead in Churachandpur town. However, tensions continued to build up on the border of Kangvai district. A large number of Kuki-Zomi women and armed volunteers moved close to Kangvai during the night, anticipating the approach of large numbers of agitating Meitei people.

Intermittent firing between the two sides began in Kangvai around 7 am, while teargas was also deployed by security personnel to ward off the crowd. According to security inputs, a mob looted arms from the 2nd IRB in Naranseina in Bishnupur district. The firing in Kangvai continued till at least 3:30 pm, when The Indian Express was present close to the site. Firing continued to be reported in Terakhongsanbi in Bishnupur district till 7 pm.