Fleeing for Freedom: The Saga of 60 Coffins Escaped From the Valley of Death

On 14th December 2023, 60 lifeless bodies of Kuki-Zo lying in the mortuaries of JNIMS and RIMS were airlifted to Lamka and Kanggui, the two major districts dominated by Kuki-Zo. This comes after 7 months since they were brutally murdered, some gang-raped, by Meitei mobs in Imphal. Four Meiteis, including three who were killed while attacking Kuki-Zo villages in Lamka and a woman who die of stroke, were also taken from Churachandpur Medical College to Imphal on the same day.

On that day, the wind in the Kuki-Zo hills carry mournful tune with tears of joy and sadness -- joy for receiving the remains of the martyrs, and sadness for they have suffered extreme pain and agony. For the Kukis, it is customary to give a day of mourning and befitting burial to those who sacrificed their lives for a cause, and yet these martyrs had to wait for months.

Going into the list of those 19 airlifted to Kanggui, and buried on 15th December, one could find a Meitei woman amongst them. Mrs. Lydia Lourembam, w/o. Lourembam Inaoton, was burnt alive in an ambulance by Meira Paibis and Arambai Tenggol along with a 7 years old boy Tonsing Hangshing and his mother, Mrs. Meena Hangshing. When the dead bodies of Meiteis and Kuki-Zo were handed over to their respective communities, this woman had to travel to the opposite direction because she was charred to dead by her own people. Her only crime was: she had accompanied a critically wounded Kuki boy to the hospital after he was shot at the head by Meitei militants on June 4.

For the last seven months, whenever there was plan for transfer of dead bodies from Imphal to Lamka or Kanggui, the Meitei mobs led by Meira Paibis would come out on the street and block the roads. The same was on 13th and 14th December. Videos and voice recordings were circulated among the Meiteis asking them to check all vehicles which could be used in transporting the dead bodies. This time, too, if the Indian Army were not involved, the directives of the Supreme Court to handover the dead bodies to their respective families could remained unfulfilled.

This shows how radicalised and communally charged the Meiteis’ minds are. They are not even ready to handover the already decomposed bodies lying in the mortuaries. This is not only inhumane but also against the Constitution to treat the dead in such a disrespectful manner. For them, anything associated with the Kuki-Zo, including their dead bodies, are symbols of hatred to be treated with contempt. Such is the level how their leaders and intellectuals have poisoned their minds! Anyway, have you ever heard of a community whose mothers handed over young girls to their boys to be raped? Can you imagine a mother justifying a son for parading another woman naked, or for committing gang-rape? Well, that’s what happened among the Meiteis.

Now that the dead bodies are safely airlifted by the Indian Army, what concern us is the likely revenge that the Meiteis could take since they failed to stop them. In fact, some sections in Imphal have already started demanding the bodies of about 30 people whom they claimed are missing. In normal situation, it is the fundamental right of any person to demand justice on a missing person. However, the irony here is that these people, whom the Meiteis claimed are missing, might have been killed while attacking Kuki-Zo villages but their bodies secretly disposed off by their own radical organisations!

It is already a well-known fact that many of the dead bodies who were killed in combat while attacking Kuki-Zo villages have not been revealed. Rather than handling over to the concerned authority, the families were kept in the dark. It was not disclosed probably because revealing the exact number of casualty incurred while attacking Kuki-Zo villages could have demoralised their Militias. However, after the infamous Khamenlok incident where about 13 bodies somehow reached the morgue, it was no longer possible for them to keep hiding. So, they started blaming the Kukis for kidnapping, killing, and even disposing off of those people they claimed are missing.

It is also not surprising that for the Meiteis all the blames go to the Kukis. In their logic they have not committed any crime. Believe it or not, all the missing Meiteis are killed by the Kukis! In the midst of such a community desperate for lies after lies to control the mob, the Kuki-Zo people must remain alert. Remember how rumours about many Meitei women being allegedly raped and murdered in the initial days of violence in May in Lamka were circulated. The reality was just the opposite: not even a single Meitei was harm in Lamka.

Now, as done in the last three months wherein innocent people including minor girls were arrested, the police and the security forces could once again be under extreme pressure to nab any Kuki-Zo to please the majority community. So, it would be wise to prepare for any eventuality since the coffins have been rescued.

Perhaps, its time the Meiteis question their Godfather Biren and other leaders, including the Arambai Tenggol, where they hid the bodies of their loved ones instead of blaming the Kukis all the time. That could well be the better option, or maybe the only way, to actually dig-out the whereabout of those 30 odd missing persons. For the Kuki-Zo, it’s a relief that their martyrs have escaped from the Valley of Death and reached the land of freedom where they can rest in peace.