IMPHAL (The Thursday Times) — A Kuki tribal body in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district is beginning a series of sit-in protests on Thursday, accusing the state government of failing to act on its demands over the abduction and killing of two young men from Taphou Kuki village.
The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) said the first sit-in would be held in Saikul, followed by protests in Saparmaina and at the Kangpokpi district headquarters. It had given the government seven days to respond to its charter of demands and said the response had been “unsatisfactory”.
“Should the Government fail to take concrete and satisfactory action within this stipulated period, CoTU will be compelled to impose a more stringent form of democratic protest,” the committee said in a statement.
Two youths killed
Thangginlun Chongloi, 21, and Paoginlal Hangsing, 20, were abducted on October 28 while returning from the Hengbung police outpost on National Highway 2, according to officials. Their bodies were found on November 1. The village authority has blamed armed Naga groups for the killings.
Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh visited the families on Monday and said the case had been handed to the National Investigation Agency. He said everyone involved would be brought to justice, though the process could take time.
The bodies are still in the mortuary of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal. CoTU has refused to accept them until its demands are met. It had earlier imposed a total shutdown in the district, which it suspended for seven days.
Landmine fears
Tension in the area rose further this week after a woman lost her leg in a suspected landmine blast while grazing cattle at Bazaghari village on Tuesday. CoTU blamed the NSCN-IM and ZUF-K armed factions for planting explosives in fields used by villagers and asked for a bomb disposal squad to clear the area.
Manipur has been torn by ethnic violence since May 2023, first between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities and, more recently, between Kuki and Naga groups in the hill districts.
