Imphal/New Delhi:

An MLA from Manipur’s Churachandpur district has raised a huge controversy over his social media posts calling 10 “militants” who were killed in an encounter on November 11 “martyrs”.

Churachandpur MLA Lallian Mang Khaute, who is also a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the 1985-batch, posted videos on Facebook and X showing him paying respects to the 10 men.

The Manipur Police in a statement said the 10 “militants” were killed in retaliatory fire after a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in Jiribam’s Borobekra was attacked by the “militants”. The police shared visuals of what they claimed were assault rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher recovered from the “militants”. A CRPF soldier was injured in the attack.

On the same day, six members of a family from the Meitei community including an infant, a two-year-old boy and an eight-year-old girl were taken hostage by another group of militants. They were killed in captivity and their bodies dumped into a river. The Manipur government on Monday in a cabinet resolution called them “Kuki militants” and sought to designate them as an “unlawful organisation” – a terrorist group.

In the post on Facebook, the BJP MLA of the Kuki-dominant hill district wrote, “Today, we gather with profound sorrow to honour and pay our respects to the 10 brave martyrs whose lives were tragically lost on the 11th of November. They have been brought from Silchar to Lamka [Churachandpur district] Hospital Mortuary. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families during this difficult time. May their souls find eternal peace and may we always remember their sacrifice.”

Mr Khaute uploaded the same video on X with a different caption.

“Paying respects to the ten martyrs, who have been brought from Silchar today at Lamka [Churachandpur] Hospital Mortuary. May their souls rest in peace,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Paying respects to the ten martyrs, who have been brought from Silchar today at Lamka Hospital Mortuary. May their souls rest in peace! pic.twitter.com/bcUV4Wcyx1

— Lallian Mang Khaute, IPS(retd) (@LMKhaute) November 16, 2024

A zero first information report (FIR) has been filed against Mr Khaute in Delhi by the general secretary of the Republican Party of India (Athawale) and Manipur resident Maheshwar Thounaojam. A zero FIR is one that is filed in any police station, to be forwarded to the relevant police station later in another state.

“All of us gathered here today came from different parts of the country. We are all Indians and we are one. The world needs to be told what the Kuki terrorists and their enablers are doing in Manipur. It is not just about Manipur. If it was, we wouldn’t have come to this police station in the national capital,” Maheshwar Thounaojam told reporters.

“We need to tell everyone across the country about Kuki terrorists. We stand together, and you see there are leaders from Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, many other states here, listening to us,” Mr Thounaojam said. “He (Khaute) is playing a dangerous game. He’s like a snake in a play school,” he said, adding as a former police chief Mr Khaute should have known better and not acted in a manner that would lead to infamy after a career in the IPS.

Many from the Meitei community including those living abroad also criticised the Churachandpur MLA over his comments on social media.

“What does one say about an MLA who glorifies 10 slain militants shot by the CRPF as martyrs? In their relentless push for a separate territory and Union Territory status, are the Kukis now openly legitimising the use of militancy to achieve their aims? The world must question: is this a political struggle or a dangerous endorsement of armed rebellion? If the line between politics and militancy blurs, are we staring at the erosion of lawful discourse in favour of violence?” Australia-based journalist from the Meitei community Indira Laisram said in a post on X.

The Manipur cabinet in an eight-point resolution released on Monday said it has resolved “to start mass operations against the Kuki militants responsible for the killing of six innocent women and children in Jiribam within seven days.”

The cabinet also sought to “declare the Kuki militants responsible for the killing of the six innocent women and children as an ‘unlawful organisation’ within seven days”. If implemented, the Kuki militants responsible for taking hostage and killing them would be designated a terrorist group.

Imphal/New Delhi:

The father of two children – who went missing along with their mother and three others from Manipur’s Jiribam after an encounter between suspected Kuki insurgents and the security forces – has appealed to the authorities to find them as soon as possible.

Two other women from the family, and an eight-year-old child are also missing.

At least 10 suspected Kuki insurgents were shot dead in Jiribam on Monday. Kuki groups have alleged they were “village volunteers” who were shot from behind by the CRPF without any provocation, an allegation the Manipur Police have denied.

Laisharam Herojit, a low-level worker in the state government, in an interview to NDTV appealed to any group that may have held his family hostage. He told NDTV that a friend of his wife saw them being taken away on a boat by armed people.

“I’m Laishram Herojit. I’m a resident of Thambalkhong. I’m a low-level government servant. Among the six missing people, my wife, my two children, my mother-in-law and wife’s sister are there. So far there is no information about any of them. I don’t even know whether they are alive,” Mr Herojit told NDTV.

“They are all innocent. My two children cannot even speak yet. The elder one has just about started to speak. Please release them unhurt and hand them over to the family,” he said.

Mr Herojit told NDTV he got a call from his wife when shooting and arson broke out in Jiribam’s Borobekra on Monday. The call got disconnected and when he dialled her back, he found the phone was switched off.

“She was crying on the phone. She said they were surrounded by a lot of armed people. The call got disconnected, after which I called her back, but the mobile was switched off. My mother-in-law’s phone was also switched off. About an hour later – and we had been searching for a while – a Bengali friend of my wife told us she saw them being taken away in a boat,” Mr Herojit told NDTV.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp and the police station in Jiribam’s Borobekra are less than 1 km from the Barak River (see map above).

The yellow line is the distance between the river and the CRPF camp (approximately 600 metres), while the white line is the distance between a small settlement and the police station (approximately 350 metres). The small settlement is on the upper tip of the white arrow. This is where the houses were set on fire by the suspected Kuki insurgents after attacking the police station, according to police sources.

The CRPF engaged them in the open stretch between the larger settlement towards the direction of the river and the camp, which is next to the small settlement that was set on fire, sources said, adding it was an extremely chaotic situation.

Meitei Community Holds Silent Protest

Members of the valley-dominant Meitei community held candlelight vigil and protests in some cities to draw attention to the situation back home. Meitei civil society organisations called a shutdown in the state capital Imphal and other valley areas to protest against the attack by suspected Kuki militants in Jiribam.

Meitei Alliance, a global umbrella body of civil groups, in a statement said the “hostage-taking of three children and three women by Kuki terrorist groups… is an atrocity that demands immediate action. These terrorist groups, driven by a narrow ethnocentric agenda, must be rooted out at all costs.”

“… The time for restraint is over. This is a make-or-break moment for Manipur. We demand proactive measures, and we urge all elected leaders, regardless of political affiliation, to fulfil their duty and help in bringing an end to this crisis,” the Meitei Alliance said in the statement.

Kuki Groups Question “Encounter”

Several civil society groups and student organisations of the Kuki tribes have condemned what they call “barbaric actions” of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). They alleged the 10 men were “village volunteers” who were “treacherously murdered”.

Paolienlal Haokip, one of the 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs who have been seeking a separate administration citing alleged atrocities and unfair treatment by the Manipur government, on Wednesday questioned the decision to send more central forces to Manipur after the Jiribam incident.

“Is rushing more CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces) the solution? While totally neglecting the political process?” Manipur BJP MLA Mr Haokip told NDTV.

“As long as you refuse to recognise the political problem, continue to back the mastermind of the ethnic purge as Chief Minister, rushing in more forces will only result in more deaths. Volunteers defending their villages are dubbed suspected militants, and a political problem is being handled as a law and order problem,” said Mr Haokip, a fierce critic of Chief Minister N Biren Singh.

Congress Delegation Meets Assam Governor

A Congress delegation in Assam met the Governor to express concern over the growing crisis in neighbouring Manipur, particularly the kidnapping of the six people. Former Manipur Chief Minister and Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh said the situation continues to deteriorate with each passing day, made an urgent appeal for the Governor’s intervention, and called for the Centre’s active role in ensuring their safe return.

Jiribam is right on the interstate border with Assam. Sources said the context of the Congress delegation meeting the Assam Governor may be due to the suspicion that militants could be crossing between Assam and Manipur using Barak River in the Borobekra stretch. Sources said this reinforces the claim by Mr Herojit that his family was taken away in a boat.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes between the Meitei community and the nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis – a term given by the British in colonial times – who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, has killed over 220 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.

The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.

Imphal:

Three children and three women are missing from Manipur’s Jiribam since yesterday after an encounter broke out between suspected Kuki insurgents and the security forces. The Manipur Police in a press conference today said the 10 killed in the encounter had enough firepower to create chaos in the affected area in Jiribam, near the border with Assam.

“Security forces have launched an operation to search for the missing people. They are three women and three children. The Assam Rifles, Border Security Force and the Central Reserve Police Force will retaliate if fired upon,” a senior Manipur Police officer told reporters in the state capital Imphal today.

The police officer said a total of 13 internally displaced people were reported missing yesterday from Jiribam. Two have been found dead, five have been traced, and six are missing, the officer said.

The two bodies were of two senior citizens from the Meitei community. Both were found inside a structure that was set on fire by the militants, the police officer added.

New Delhi/Imphal:

At least 11 suspected Kuki insurgents were shot dead in an encounter with the security forces in Manipur’s Jiribam district today, sources said. The situation is fluid and more details are awaited.

Some Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers were also injured in the attack by the suspected Kuki militants in the district bordering Assam, sources said.

The encounter began after the suspected Kuki insurgents launched a massive attack from two sides on a police station in Jiribam, sources said. There is also a relief camp for internally displaced people next to the police station. The attackers may have looked to target the camp too, sources said.

This police station in Jiribam’s Borobekra had been targeted several times in recent months.

After attacking the police station, the suspected Kuki insurgents spread out towards a small settlement in Jakurador Karong, 1 km from the police station, and began setting houses on fire, sources said, adding they simultaneously engaged in a gunfight with the security forces.

Tension has been high in Jiribam since last week when a fresh round of violence broke out.

On Thursday last, a woman from the Hmar tribe was killed by suspected Meitei insurgents, who also set houses on fire in Jiribam. Her husband in a police case alleged she was raped before she was killed.

A day later, a woman from the valley-dominant Meitei community was shot dead by suspected Kuki insurgents while she was working in a paddy field.

This morning, suspected Kuki insurgents opened fire from the hills in Imphal East District, leaving a farmer injured. The attacks during the paddy harvest season have raised concerns as farmers are getting reluctant to go to their fields, officials said.

The CRPF is the country’s biggest Central Armed Police Force (CAPF). It has evolved into an efficient fighting force with huge successes in anti-Maoist operations in Jharkhand and other states. It made significant contributions to eradicating Naxalism, particularly in West Bengal and in the Kaimur and Rohtas regions of Bihar.