At least 10 people belonging to the Kuki community were shot dead by security forces in Manipur’s Jiribam district on Monday.
The incident occurred at around 3 pm at Jukoradhor Karong, under the jurisdiction of the Borobekra police station.
While media reports claim those killed were Kuki militants and were shot during crossfire, the Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) called the reports a one-sided narrative.
Media reports say the suspected militants carried out attacks using bombs at multiple locations, including Lamtai Khunou and shops at Jukoradhor Karong, starting at around 4 am on Monday.
The COTU also announced a 24-hour total shutdown within the SADAR HILLS Kangpokpi areas from midnight on 11 November to midnight on 12 November as a mark of respect to their “fallen breavhearts,” and to show their “resentment against the Central security forces.”
The COTU’s press release stated: “However, the Committee would like to rectify the same by restating that, after learning that a group of 50 members of armed Meitei militia, the Arambai Tenggol who were responsible for the heinous murder and charring of Late Ms Zosangkim Hmar and burning down of 15 houses at Zairawn Village, the Kuki-Zo Village Volunteers pressed upon themselves to sanitized the areas when they learnt these armed Meitei militants took shelter at the police station at Jiribam. However, the Committee is baffled why the CRPF needs to retaliate when they know that the Kuki-Zo community have never trained their guns towards any central security forces, the army or the Assam Rifles for the past 17 months in the ensuing conflict. Furthermore, the Committee on Tribal Unity reiterate our stance that the Kuki-Zo community are never against the Central Security Forces, the CRPF but, with this recent incident at Jakuradhor Karong in Borobekra Sub-Division Jiribam, the Kuki-Zo community needs to introspect and reconsider our notion on their neutrality.”
The Hmar Students’ Association, a group representing the Hmar community, said that the 10 persons who were killed were village volunteers. The term “village volunteers” has been used for armed civilians guarding villages since the ethnic clashes broke out between the Meitei and Kuki communities in May 2023.
In a statement, the Hmar Students’ Association claimed that the “village volunteers” were “brutally ambushed, captured, huddled together and murdered by combined forces of the CRPF and the Manipur Police under the influence of Meitei militants.”
The Kuki-Zo Council also condemned the killing of the 10 “village volunteers” and announced a “total shutdown” from 5 am to 6 pm on Tuesday “in honour of the victims and to express our collective grief and solidarity who were brutally shot dead.”
The council demanded an immediate investigation “to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
