Last rites performed for victims of Jiribam violence in Manipur

The State police arrested seven more people for attacks on the houses of Ministers and MLAs on November 16

The last rites for nine victims of ethnic clashes in Manipur’s Jiribam, including six women and children abducted and killed by extremists on November 11, were performed on Friday. All belonged to the Meitei community.

Officials in southern Assam’s Cachar district said the bodies were handed over to the members of the victims’ families from the morgue at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital in the morning. Manipur police personnel escorted the bodies to Jiribam, about 45 km from Silchar, on the Assam-Manipur border.

“We took custody of the bodies with a heavy heart and a demand for the government to punish the culprits who felt no remorse in killing women and children. They are nothing but terrorists and not village volunteers as some people claim,” Elangbam D. Singh, the president of the Jiribam-based Jiri Development Organisation, said in Silchar. The organisation assisted the family in receiving the bodies and performing the last rites.

The families agreed to receive the bodies for the final rites after the Imphal-based Joint Action Committee (of civil society organisations) submitted a five-point memorandum to Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh on Thursday.

The committee’s demands included the arrest of the perpetrators of the violence within 72 hours, ex gratia payment to the victims before the cremation, and suitable government jobs for the survivors of the deceased.

“The Chief Minister said it would be impossible to catch the killers within 72 hours and assured us that the case would be handed over to the National Investigation Agency instead,” a spokesperson of the committee said, adding that the demands included putting a terrorist tag on a group of Hmar village volunteers that asked the Meiteis and the security forces to leave Jiribam.

Jiribam’s Superintendent of Police Robinson Singh said the situation in the restive district has been under control over the last few days. “Since it is difficult for us to reach Imphal, we have been coordinating with the Cachar district police for night patrolling and vigil along the Assam-Manipur border,” he said, acknowledging the cooperation from his Cachar counterpart Numal Mahatta.

He said the help from Cachar includes police intelligence and the use of Silchar Medical College and Hospital.

‘Democratic protests welcome’

The Manipur police, meanwhile, arrested seven more people for arson attacks apart from damaging and looting the houses of more than a dozen Ministers and MLAs across the Imphal Valley on November 16. A total of 32 people have been arrested so far for the mob violence that followed the killing of the six Meitei women and children, including an eight-month-old boy, allegedly by Kuki extremists in the Jiribam district.

The Chief Minister said the government was firm about taking action against those who attacked the houses of the elected members, some of whom were forced to stay in bunkers.

“We support democratic protests and agitations. But some gangs burnt the houses of ministers and looted properties in the name of a democratic movement. We have initiated appropriate legal actions after identifying them through CCTV,” he said.

Published - November 22, 2024 07:43 pm IST