IMPHAL, April 12: In a powerful moment of humanity amid persistent ethnic unrest in Manipur, members of the Kuki-Zo community stepped up to rescue an injured Meitei man following a road accident in Kangpokpi District, offering a rare instance of compassion over conflict.
Around 3:00 PM on April 11, a commercial truck carrying potatoes and en route to Imphal met with a severe accident near the Keithelmanbi Military Colony along National Highway-2.
Locals, alarmed by the crash, rushed to the scene and discovered a man critically injured amid scattered sacks of potatoes. The victim was later identified as Hemam Prem Singh (36), son of H. Inaocha Singh, hailing from Moirang Turenbul Leikai, Ward No. 4, under Moirang Sub-Division in Bishnupur District. Some official records list his age as 37.
Despite ongoing ethnic tensions between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities, the local residents, supported by Border Security Force (BSF) personnel on Road Opening Patrol (ROP) duty, prioritized compassion over conflict. They provided first aid to Singh and handed him over to the Kangpokpi Police Station team.
He was initially rushed to Senapati District Hospital for emergency medical care. However, as his condition deteriorated, he was quickly transferred to Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) in Imphal for advanced treatment.
This empathetic act by Kuki-Zo locals comes at a time when the community continues to express deep opposition to the central government’s controversial Free Movement Regime (FMR) policy, amidst the broader backdrop of prolonged ethnic hostilities in the state.
