Guwahati: Manipur’s hill districts remained tense on Sunday after nine people were killed in 12 hours of ethnic violence across Kamjong, Kangpokpi and Ukhrul districts on Saturday.Additional security forces were deployed in the affected areas of Kangpokpi and Kamjong districts, while separate shutdowns disrupted traffic on National Highways 2 and 202.The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) called a 24-hour strike from Saturday evening. The Kuki CSOs Working Committee, Ukhrul, also enforced a shutdown in Ukhrul over the killings and its allegations of involvement by Naga militants and security personnel. No fresh fatality was reported on Sunday.CM Yumnam Khemchand Singh condemned the killings of civilians and appealed for restraint and dialogue. “CM has instructed the authorities concerned to take immediate and effective steps to tackle the situation, restore peace and order, and ensure the safety and security of all citizens,” the CM’s office said.The Kuki Chiefs’ Association, Manipur (KCA-M), on Sunday condemned what it called a “pre-planned attack” on unarmed civilian protesters in Chassad Kuki village in Kamjong district on Oct 9 and 10. It alleged that cadres of the NSCN (I-M), NSCN (Eastern Flank) and ZUF-K, in collusion with Tangkhul IRB personnel posted in the district, carried out the attack.“In this cowardly attack, the armed groups opened fire on civilian protesters and burnt down houses in Chassad village, resulting in the killing of Domkhonei Touthang and Michael Ngamminlen Haokip, both innocent Kuki civilians of Chassad village, and the destruction of houses,” the KCA-M said in a statement.The association claimed that the latest incidents took the number of Kuki civilian victims killed in attacks allegedly led by Tangkhul-led NSCN groups since March 11 this year to 30.The KCA-M demanded the immediate registration of FIRs for murder, arson and criminal conspiracy against the alleged perpetrators and the “involved IRB personnel”, along with their arrest. It also sought ex gratia payments of Rs 30 lakh each and govt jobs for the next of kin of the deceased, besides full compensation and the urgent reconstruction of the burnt houses.“Centre and security forces must understand the ground reality and secure all Kuki villages in Kamjong, Ukhrul, Tamenglong and Noney districts with adequate deployment of central forces to prevent further attacks,” the KCA-M said. It reiterated its demand for a separate union territory with a legislature for the Kuki-Zo people under the Constitution, saying this was necessary for lasting peace and security.The 12-hour outbreak of violence claimed six Naga lives, two Kuki lives — including that of a mother of five — and the life of a Gorkha farmer. Gunfights and arson targeting homes and shops were reported across the three districts, marking one of Manipur’s deadliest outbreaks of violence in the past year.Meanwhile, the working committee of the Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL), the apex traditional body of the Tangkhul Naga community, condemned the attacks on Tangkhul Naga civilians and alleged repeated aggression against border villages in Kamjong.“The external aggression against the border Naga villagers of Kamjong by the Kuki war parties has become a routine affair since the outbreak of violent conflict in the hills of Manipur,” it said.“In spite of the grim and alarming situation along the India-Myanmar border, the current political dispensation at Imphal and New Delhi has become a helpless spectator to the cross-border terrorism, while wilfully leaving their innocent citizens at the mercy of the foreign aggressors,” the organisation alleged.The TNL urged the authorities to take measures to protect residents living along Kamjong district’s porous international border.
