Manipur protests intensify over killing of 10 'militants'

GUWAHATI: The backlash against CRPF and Manipur police over the November 11 Jiribam gunfight in which 10 "armed militants" died spilled over to Churachandpur Friday - marked by street protests, petitions to Union home minister Amit Shah and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and a campaign for a judicial inquiry.

Hundreds of protesters joined the Kuki Women Organisation for Human Rights in a demonstration at the Koite playground in the district headquarters from 11am, screaming slogans against CRPF and holding placards demanding justice for the families of the slain men.

Kuki-Zo civil groups say the deceased were tribal "volunteers" safeguarding their villages and civilians from attacks by valley-based intruders, some of whom allegedly raped and inflicted "third-degree" torture on a 31-year-old mother of three before burning her to death at Zairawn in Jiribam on November 7.

Kuki Students' Organisation (KSO) vice president Minlal Gangte urged the gathering to commit themselves to the quest for justice in front of the "Wall of Remembrance", a memorial to people from the tribal community who died in the ethnic violence since May 2023.

Memorandums addressed to NHRC and home minister Shah were handed to the additional deputy commissioner Seiminthang Lenthang.

In the Imphal valley, there have been protests over the suspected abduction of three women and as many children reported missing from a shelter for displaced people in Jiribam.