More violence in Manipur, 2 found dead, six missing

The bodies of two elderly men were found in Manipur’s Jiribam district on Tuesday, a day after 10 militants were killed in a gunfight with the CRPF. Three women and three children were still missing after violence erupted in Jiribam on Monday, said the police.

The bodies of two elderly men — Laishram Balen and Maibam Kesho — were found in the debris in the Jakuradhor Karong area, where militants had set fire to some shops on Monday.

In another development, prominent tribal bodies on Tuesday gave a call for “non-cooperation” with the CRPF. They claimed that those killed in the Monday’s encounter were not militants but Hmar village volunteers.

Meanwhile, the situation in Jiribam, where the administration had imposed an indefinite curfew on Monday soon after the militants’ attack on a CRPF camp, remained calm but tense with the police patrolling vulnerable points.

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) had called for a shutdown on Tuesday in all Kuki-Zo-dominated districts of Manipur as a mark of protest against the encounter. In a statement, the ITLF said the Kuki-Zo community should reconsider labelling the CRPF as a “neutral” central force.

Issuing a directive of non-cooperation with the CRPF, another tribal association Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO) said, “No personnel from the paramilitary force shall be allowed to leave their camp... until the CRPF publicly acknowledges and apologises for its ‘barbaric’ actions in Jiribam.” “This will be considered as part of the larger movement of ‘non-cooperation with the CRPF’ within the Kuki-dominated areas, “ the KSO said in a statement.

The ITLF alleged that “last week when Meitei gunmen attacked Zairawn village in Jiribam and killed a Hmar woman, CRPF personnel posted nearby refused to help the villagers and stayed put in their camp as the village was pillaged and burnt”.

They were referring to the November 7 incident when a Hmar woman was allegedly raped, shot and burnt by armed militants, who also torched the village. The incident has been condemned by all tribal bodies and Manipur’s Kuki MLAs, including from the BJP.

“On Monday, the central force went a step further by killing 11 Hmar village volunteers who were on a patrolling duty to sanitise tribal areas in the wake of the Zairawn attack,” said the ITLF statement.

Jiribam district tense

The situation in Jiribam, where the administration had clamped an indefinite curfew on Monday soon after the militants’ attack on a CRPF camp, remained tense with the police patrolling vulnerable points.