Mortal Remains of Kuki-Zo Martyrs Including A Meitei Woman Laid To Rest in Kanggui

Manipur’s Kanggui district witnessed a 12-hour total shutdown, alongside hoisting up of black flags and mass mourning during the burial ceremony of the Kuki-Zo dead bodies who were victims of Meitei atrocities in the ongoing ethnic violence which the state has been witnessing since May 3.

Twenty-three dead bodies including four untraceable/missing dead bodies were given a decent and honorable burial today at Martyrs’ Cemetery at Phaijang village in Kanggui district.

Altogether, 58 Kuki-Zo people from Kanggui district have been killed in ongoing Manipur violence till date out of which 22 dead bodies had already been buried earlier, four dead bodies are still untraceable/missing, 13 dead bodies had been transferred to  Churachandpur district as requested by their families while 19 dead bodies were flown home yesterday from Imphal.

The twenty-three dead bodies buried today includes four untraceable dead bodies who were given ceremonial coffins and includes the dead bodies of a 7-year-old, Tonsing Hangshing and his mother Meena Hangshing who were burnt alive inside an ambulance.

The dead body of a Meitei woman, Lydia Lourembam, wife of Lourembam Inaoton, who was burnt alive along with Tonsing Hangshing and Meena Hangshing was also among the dead bodies buried today.

The dead bodies of Florence Nempichong Hangshing and Olivia Lhingneithem Chongloi, who were raped and brutally murdered, were also among the dead bodies buried today.

The decent and honorable mass burial ceremony under the theme, “You Sacrifice Your Today For Our Tomorrow” conducted under the aegis of the Committee on Tribal Unity Sadar Hills at the Martyrs’ Cemetery at Phaijang village was attended by more than ten thousand people across the district.

Kuki Inpi Manipur, Sadar Hills Chiefs’ Association, various other civil society organizations, prominent Kuki-Zo leaders across the district and state also attended the mass burial ceremony.

While CoTU Chairman Thanglen Kipgen gave the welcome speech, CoTU General Secretary, Lamminlun Singsit gave a brief report of the victims from the district.

Condolence and gun salute to the martyrs was conducted by the Kuki-Zo volunteers under the aegis of the CoTU Defence Department.

Apart from the CSOs leaders, the victims’ family members also spoke on the occasion.

Dr. Satkhokai Chongloi, who attended the Mass Burial Ceremony as Minister led the burial ceremony after a mass prayer with all the Church leaders. The coffins were carried by the Kuki-Zo volunteers while one church leader each carried a cross for each coffin and led the funeral procession to the burial site.

Joshua Hangshing, father of Tonsing Hangshing and husband of Meena Hangshing said, “Till I received the dead bodies of my son and wife, I could not have a normal life thinking that they would come back home anytime from somewhere”.

“The day I came to know that their dead bodies will be flown home, I could not sleep the whole night longing to meet them though they would not be able to talk to me like before”, he added.

He also said that now he was relieved as they could have a decent and honorable burial.

Lourembam Inaoton, a Meitei by ethnicity, and husband of Lydia Lourembam said that he had been leading a miserable life till he received the dead body of his wife.

“It’s very difficult to explain how my life was before her lifeless body reached me, but, now, I am fine as she got a decent and honorable burial today”, he added.

Lourembam Inaoton also conveyed his heartfelt gratitude to the leaders of CoTU, KIM, KSO, and other CSOs for their exemplary humanitarian gestures in giving a decent and honorable burial to his wife’s dead body.

CoTU’s Information and Publicity Secretary, Thangtinlen Haokip once again thanked the Supreme Court as the Kuki-Zo victims could be finally put to rest.

He said that the Kuki-Zo people appreciated the Supreme Court in directing the state to hand over the mortal remains of our fallen brethren to us.

He also thanked the IGAR South and the 22 AR on behalf of the Kuki-Zo people of Kanggui for the transportation of the dead bodies.

Thangtinlen Haokip also said that CoTU was extremely thankful to the public for their support in times of grief by adhering to the 12-hour total shutdown which ended this afternoon at 5:00 p.m.

“May our departed souls rest in peace and their sacrifices will never be lost in our quest for freedom from the oppressive administration”, he added.

All business establishments, schools, and institutions apart from vehicular movement came to a standstill today in Kangpokpi district during CoTU’s 12-hour total shutdown.