'It's Cold-Blooded Murder'

'Look at the post mortem reports. Every body (of the 10 Kuki-Zo youth who were killed) has almost 12 bullet marks on it.'
'Why do they have to fire so much even if they wanted to kill them?'
'One or two shots would be enough to kill them.'

The Indigenous Tribals Leaders Forum, a conglomerate of recognised tribals in Lamka, Outer Manipur, wrote to Union Home Minister Amit A Shah seeking his intervention to initiate a judicial inquiry into the killing of '10 Kuki Zo volunteers' allegedly in a fake encounter by Central Reserve Police Force personnel.

Ginza Vualzong, ITLF spokesperson, discusses the contents of this letter with Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com and why the Kukis fear the CRPF.

Why did it become necessary for the Indigenous Tribals Leaders Forum to write a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah?

We have written to the Union home minister with the subject line asking for justice for 10 Kuki volunteers who were killed by the CRPF. The letter also seeks a political solution to end the violence in Manipur.

This letter also talks about how even after 19 months of conflict in Manipur there's no sign or semblance of normalcy and we the minority Kuki-Zo community are continuing to suffer at the hand of Meitei militants which is supported by the state government. Now, we are also suffering at the hand of the Central Reserve Police Force.

We have been telling the Indian home minister that all these attacks have always started from the Meitei side. The Kuki-Zo community never provoked anybody nor did we first attack. But when we were attacked we only defended our people and territory.

The letter also talks about the latest violence in Zairon village in Jiribam district, where a 31-year-old tribal woman was burned to death and in the following days another 10 Kuki volunteers were also killed by the CRPF.

One more Kuki was killed by Meitei militants when he was visiting his pregnant wife. He was kidnapped on the way and was killed.

We also highlighted the fact that the CRPF being a neutral force should be saving our lives, saving everyone's life, every Indian citizen's life. But they are the ones who are actually killing, taking the lives of Indian citizens. We condemn that.

We have asked for a judicial inquiry that would investigate and give justice to the 10 Kuki volunteers and take action against the (CRPF) personnel involved in these horrific killings.

Is the ITLF claiming that these 10 Kuki youth, who you call village volunteers, and who the CRPF killed because they were militants, were killed in a fake encounter?

Yes, of course it's a fake encounter. Looking at the post mortem reports, (one would find that) most gunshots were (fired) from the back. Four of them were tortured to death and their eyes were being gouged out.

I won't even call a fake encounter; it's like a murder. It's cold blooded murder.

Why do you think the CRPF would engage in fake encounters as you are claiming?

Look at the post mortem reports. Every body (of the 10 Kuki-Zo youth who were killed) has almost 12 bullet marks on them.

Why do they have to fire so much even if they wanted to kill them. One or two shots would be enough to kill them. Why then they had to fire so many bullets on them? That too in their backs.

The bullet marks on their back shows that it was not a (genuine) encounter. (They were killed) maybe while they were fleeing or they were killed while they were being captured, which the CRPF have to answer. I have no answer why they engaged in these horrific killings.

Manipur has been engulfed in a cycle of violence since May 3, 2023. The Meiteis claim that the Kukis started the killings first and they retaliated in defence. The Kukis charge the Meiteis of the same.
Would you say the state government has failed in protecting the lives of ordinary Manipuris, be they Kukis or Meiteis -- Indian citizens, basically?

Definitely the government of Manipur completely failed. From the Kukis' side we have lost about 220 lives so far. On the Meiteis' side, I think it would be more than 150. In total it's almost like 300 to 400 lives have been lost already and the state government is doing nothing to stop this violence.

What emboldens people on both sides to engage in such murder?

I don't know about the other side (the Meiteis), but from our side, we are protecting our lands. This issue (violence) cropped up because of the land issue.

All this violence started because the Meiteis, who are the majority in the state, are trying to grab the lands of the tribals (Kuki Zo) who are on the hills. That's how the feeling of insecurity started and that's when the (Kuki Zos) began distrusting (the Meiteis).

All this anger and mistrust came to the fore when we had a rally on May 3, 2023 to fight against or to deny the demand of ST (scheduled tribe) status for the Meiteis.

When they (the Meiteis) are already a majority people and (belong to the) higher race why are they demanding to become tribals again by demanding ST status? This is a very tricky scheme to grab tribal land.

The Constitution of India protects tribal lands saying that no non-tribal can purchase the land (from tribals).

What has made Kuki land so precious for Meiteis that they want to grab hold of lands on the hills?

I don't know if you are aware of Manipur's geography. The Imphal Valley, which is about 600 to 700 square kilometres, is the only land occupied by the Meiteis. The rest of the state is hilly terrain where tribals (Kuki Zo) live.

In terms of population, the population of the Meiteis is more (than that of the Kukis) and their land area is less. So they need more land. They have been thinking of ways to get tribal land -- demanding ST quota is one way.

When N Biren Singh become the chief minister, he started bringing up forest policies like reserved forests and started claiming all these reserve forests which fall under the tribal areas belong to the state and so must go back to the state.

It sounds very good to conserve the environment but the tribals are not convinced because we think that this is a way to grab our land.

While you have written a letter to the home minister asking for a judicial inquiry into the killing of 10 Kuki Zo volunteers, do you condemn the killing of six Meiteis, including women and two infants last month?
Does the ITLF condemn such violence which allegedly was perpetrated by Kuki militants?

Violence in any form is condemnable, be it violence done by our side or their side. ITLF has always condemned all forms of violence.

There is no justification for these kinds of killings.

Why does it become so easy for Kukis to enter Meitei territories and Meiteis to enter Kuki territories and kill each other?

I think that is wrong. We have never entered Meitei territory. If we entered, we would be killed.

You said that 150 Meiteis too have lost their lives in the ongoing violence in Manipur. How did these 150 Meiteis die then?

When they came to attack the Kuki villages, our volunteers retaliated, that's when they (150 Meiteis) lost their lives. If you ask even the Indian Army or anyone (other paramilitary troops stationed in the state), you would never hear of Kuki volunteers entering Meitei areas and killing their people.

It's only when the Meitei militants come to attack our villages when we retaliate. In the process of retaliation they lost their lives.

Is the ITLF demanding replacement of the CRPF by some other central paramilitary force?

We do not make such demands. Even before the Jiribam incident (killing of 10 Kukis by the CRPF) happened, from the beginning (of the violence), we have expressed our apprehensions about the CRPF because we know that Meitei officers are embedded within the CRPF and we don't trust them.

We even opposed when there was an order from the ministry of home affairs pulling out some battalions of the Assam Rifles to other places, and replacing them with the CRPF.

We do not have any confidence in the CRPF because of the Meitei officers embedded there.

Would you be happy if CRPF is replaced by Assam Rifles again? Would it help contain violence?

We do not trust CRPF and our mistrust is confirmed by the Jiribam killings. When Zairon village was attacked by militants, a CRPF camp was nearby but the CRPF did not even fire a single shot to thwart the violence. They were quiet, they let the attack happen.

And on the next day they killed 10 of our volunteers again. In the minds of all the tribals it's clear that the CRPF is not for (protecting) us.