Christian youths buried 25 days after being killed in India’s Manipur
Updated: December 06, 2024
The final rites on 12 bullet-riddled bodies were delayed because tribal Christians insisted on postmortem reports
The bodies of 12 indigenous Christian youths were laid to rest 25 days after they were killed in India’s sectarian strife-torn Manipur state.
Many people turned up on Dec. 5 for a special prayer meeting organized at the Peace Ground at Tuibuong in Churachandpur district, a tribal Christian stronghold in the northeastern state, bordering civil war-hit Myanmar.
The mourners observed a one-minute silence before the bodies with gunshot wounds were buried in the Martyrs’ Cemetery.
Speakers at the meeting called them “martyrs” who laid down their lives while protecting their tribal community which is fighting with the majority Hindus in the hilly state
A total shutdown was observed in Tuibuong and thousands of people joined the funeral procession.
Among the 12 youths, 10 were killed in an alleged encounter with the Central Reserve Police Force in Jiribam district on Nov. 11.
Two others were allegedly killed by Meitei Hindu groups. However, the pro-Hindu government in the state has called the youths “militants.”
Their burial was delayed as the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), representing Kuki-Zo tribal Christians in Manipur, insisted on their postmortem reports.
The youths, aged between 19 and 35, according to the postmortem report, were shot from behind. However, the government claimed that they were killed in an encounter.
“They were brutally killed without any provocation, and it is evident from the postmortem reports,” said a Church leader who did not want to be named due to security reasons.
All bodies have multiple bullet injuries, and in some cases, up to a dozen, the Church leader added, quoting the postmortem reports.
“Until and unless there is an impartial probe nothing will come out,” noted the Church leader.
In a Dec. 6 statement, the ITLF thanked everyone who attended the funeral, saying their presence was a “testament to the love and admiration that our martyrs deserve.”
Manipur has been in chaos since May 3, 2023, after unprecedented violence erupted over granting tribal status to the influential Meitei Hindus.
The indigenous people fear that with the tribal status, the Meiteis, who make up 53 percent of the state’s 3.2 million people, will purchase protected tribal land in the hilly districts where they stay.
They would also become eligible for the nation’s affirmation action policy and avail of job and educational quotas in state-run institutions.
Currently, these benefits are reserved for Kuki-Zo tribal people, who make up 41 percent of the state’s population.
The violence so far has claimed over 250 lives and displaced 60,000 people, most of them Christians.
The Catholic Church has a diocese in Manipur, based in the state capital Imphal, and headed by Archbishop Linus Neli.
