In another set of continuous violence, three persons were killed early on Friday morning in a village in Tangkhul Naga-dominated Ukhrul district, which has been relatively peaceful through the course of the ongoing conflict in the state.

The three killed have been identified as Thangkhokai Haokip (35), Jamkhogin Haokip (26), and Hollenson Baite (24).

While Thowai Kuki village falls under the jurisdiction of Ukhrul police, it comes under the revenue district of Kamjong, where Tangkhul Nagas are in majority too. While the village is not located right at the border with the neighbouring Meitei-dominated Imphal East district, it is not very far from it. Yainganpokpi in Imphal East – the area around which has seen considerable unrest and firing – is 10 kms away.

According to residents, the three persons who were killed were on village guard duty at night and had been stationed in a bunker that the community had built outside the village.



Ten Kuki lawmakers, including seven from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have written to Union home minister Amit Shah asking him to direct the state government against sending “partisan” police commandos to ethnic violence-hit Manipur’s Kuki majority hill districts.

Kuki groups have since last month been protesting against an alleged move to deploy additional state forces in Moreh near the Myanmar border in the Tengnoupal district.

More than 200 Meiteis who crossed over to neighbouring Myanmar to escape the ethnic violence in Manipur have safely returned to the state after more than three months, as said by Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh.  He lauded the role of army to bringing them back.

The ethnic violence between the dominant Metei and Kuki communities, which was triggered on May 3, has claimed around 160 lives and displaced over 50,000 people.

Will the violence in Manipur ever end?

Source: HindustanTimes and IndianExpress