Fresh tension in Manipur over Kuki group’s mass burial plan; burial postponed after HC’s order, Centre’s appeal

Several women were injured after the security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse a mob, which gathered in the Meitei-dominated Bishnupur district in conflict-hit Manipur on Thursday, after a Kuki organisation decided to perform amass burial of 35 persons who died during the violence since May 3.

The women allegedly pelted stones at the security forces, who stopped them from marching towards the land in question in neighbouring Churachandpur district, where the burials were proposed to be performed. Tension erupted in Meitei-dominated Imphal East and Imphal West districts too following which a curfew during the day time was reimposed.

The burial, however, was postponed by five days after the Manipur High Court, while hearing a PIL at 6 am, ordered both the Meitei and Kuki communities to maintain status quo and make efforts for "amicable settlement" of the controversy over the land. The MHA also requested Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), a Kuki organisation, to postpone the burial promising steps to address the issue within a week. Mizoram CM Zoramthanga also intervened.

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The ITLF on Wednesday said 35 bodies, including three women, which remained in the Churachandpur district hospital, would be buried at S. Boljang village on Thursday following a programme to pay tributes to the deceased in the Peace Ground at Tuibuong, (also in Churachandpur.)

Objecting to ITLF's decision, the Coordination Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a forum of the Meitei organisations, on Wednesday claimed that the land where the mass burial was proposed was that of Meitei residents, who were evicted by the Kukis during the violence.

Churachandpur, the epicentre of the three-month-long violence, is a Kuki-dominated district and the Meitei had fled after the violence broke out on May 3.

HC’s PIL hearing at 6 am

As tension was building up in and around the land in question, a bench of the Manipur High Court took up hearing of a PIL at 6 am on Thursday following which it asked both the Kukis and Meiteis to maintain status quo and make efforts for “amicable settlement” of the issues over the land.

A bench of the acting Chief Justice MV Muralidaran and Justice A Guneswar Sharma also asked the Centre and Manipur government to take "appropriate effective steps" to control the law and order situation in and around the land. The bench asked both the groups to maintain status quo till the next hearing on August 9.

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The bench took up the petition at 6 am as an unlisted matter after deputy Advocate General H Devendra informed the Chief Justice at 5am that a large crowd belonging to both the communities gathered around the land and violence might erupt again.

The PIL was filed by the International Meeteis Forum on Wednesday (August 2) opposing the mass burial on the land. It was scheduled to be heard by a special bench of Justice A Bimol Singh and Justice A Guneshwar Sharma. The PIL was, however, transferred to the bench of acting Chief Justice and Justice Sharma after Justice Singh informed the court that he was unable to take up the matter due to his “personal inconvenience.”

Kuki group’s demand

In a statement at 9 am, the ITLF said they decided to postpone the burial after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) requested them to do so for finding a solution to the row over the land.

The ITLF, however, put forth five demands before the Centre while agreeing to the MHA’s request. The demand includes “legalisation” of the burial site, transfer of the bodies of the Kukis lying in Imphal hospital, speeding up the process for “total separation” from Manipur and transfer of Kuki jail inmates from Imphal to other states.