Kuki Organizations Hold Coffin Rally in Manipur’s Churachandpur

Imphal (Manipur): A coffin rally was held in Manipur’s Churachandpur district on Monday to pay tribute to the 10 suspected Kuki militants killed in a recent encounter with the CRPF in Jiribam district. Representatives from various Kuki organizations participated in the rally, many of them dressed in black attire as a mark of respect. The participants carried symbolic coffins to honor the deceased. Notably, the bodies of the suspected militants remain in a local hospital morgue.

In a joint public notice issued on Monday, the Zoumi Students’ Federation (ZSF), Kuki Students’ Organization (KSO), and Hmar Students’ Association (HSA) directed schools and colleges to allow students above Class 10 to participate in the rally, wearing black shirts.

The bodies, which were brought to Churachandpur—predominantly inhabited by the Kuki community—on Saturday afternoon after post-mortem examinations in a hospital in Silchar, Assam, have yet to be buried. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), a major Kuki-Zomi organization, announced on Sunday that the funerals would not proceed until the families of the deceased receive the post-mortem reports.

Earlier, Manipur Police IGP (Operations) M. Muiva stated in a press conference on November 11 that militants in disguise, armed with sophisticated weapons, launched a sudden and indiscriminate attack on the Barabekra police station and the CRPF camp in Jakuradhor, Jiribam district. In the ensuing fierce gunfight with security forces, 10 suspected militants were killed. A CRPF officer was also injured during the encounter.

Police further claimed that the militants had abducted six civilians, including three women and three children, from the same district, and later brutally murdered them.