The Indigenous Tribal Leader’s Forum (ITLF) submitted a five-point charter of demand at the headquarters through the Assam Rifle of Lamka in Churachandpur saying if they are not met, the mass burial will take place. The mass burial could evoke massive response and subsequent unrest.
The 35 bodies of slain people will be kept in the mortuary for another week after the request of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga. However, if the five-point demand is not met, the collective burial will be carried out.
The ITLF has put forward the demand that there should be a legalisation of a burial site for Kukis in Churachandpur, Manipur. Their second demand is that state forces who belong to the Meitei community should not be deployed in any of the hill districts for the safety of Kuki–zo communities. Their third demand is that the bodies kept in Imphal Hospital for burial should be brought to Lamka, Churachandpur. The ITLF claimed that the political demand for total separation from Manipur should speed up and their last demand is that the tribal inmates in Imphal jail should be kept in the jails of other states for safety.
The ITLF claims that the preparations were complete for the mass burial at the Tuibuong Lamka area in Manipur. It has been postponed only for a week. It is learned that the preparations were done in a field that is close to where the people from Meitei Community live.
Speaking to The Statesman, ITLF Convenor, Ginza Vualzong said,“ Since the preparations were all done, we could not go home. We haven’t got the bodies but performed the rest of the formalities. We all offered prayers for the departed souls.”
There is an age-old conflict between the Kuki and Meitei communities in Manipur. Meitei is the Hindu group that has maximum representation in the assembly. The Meitei community’s support allowed the Bharatiya Janata Party to form a government. Kukis follow Christianity. The Kukis live in the hills of Manipur while Meitei communities live in the plains of the region.
The Meitei community wants to be included in the scheduled tribe category while the Kuki community is already part of the scheduled tribe.