IMPHAL, Nov 19: A ‘coffin rally’ took place in Churachandpur district on Tuesday, as community members gathered to pay tribute and express solidarity with the 10 Kuki-Zo youths who were allegedly killed in a gunfight with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the Jiribam district.
Participants of the rally, many clad in black outfits, carried dummy coffins to honor the slain youths, as their bodies remain in the morgue of a local hospital. The event was marked by somber recollections and calls for justice as the community sought to spotlight the tragic loss.
The Zomi Students’ Federation (ZSF), Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO), and Hmar Students’ Association (HSA) issued a ‘joint public notice’ on November 18, urging schools and colleges to have students from class 10 and above participate in the rally wearing black shirts to signify their mourning.
Following an autopsy conducted at a hospital in Silchar, Assam, the bodies of the deceased reached Churachandpur, a district predominantly inhabited by the Kuki community, on Saturday afternoon.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), representing the Kuki-Zo community announced on Sunday that the funerals for the 10 youths would not take place until postmortem examination reports are provided to their families.
The incident that triggered the rally occurred on November 11 when the Manipur Police reported that 10 suspected militants were killed in a violent confrontation with security forces. The police claimed that insurgents, clad in camouflage and armed with advanced weaponry, indiscriminately fired upon the Borobekra Police Station and an adjacent CRPF camp at Jakuradhor in Jiribam.
