A leading Kuki-Zo organisation of Manipur on Thursday wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding a judicial probe into the killing of 10 youths in a gunfight with the CRPF.In its letter, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) also raised questions over the neutrality of the CRPF.
The organisation reiterated its demand for a separate administration for the Kuki-Zo community under the Indian Constitution in the state where ethnic violence between Kuki tribals and Meiteis claimed over 250 lives since May last year.
“The latest round of violence, which started with the burning of Zairawn village in Jiribam district and the horrific murder of a 31-year-old tribal woman, has resulted in the deaths of 13 Kuki-Zo people,” said the letter signed by ITLF Chairman Pagin Haokip and General Secretary Muan Tombing.
The body of the woman, who was “tortured and charred to death” was found at her home on November 7 evening.
“What makes this episode more worrying for the minority community is that 10 tribals were killed by the CRPF, which was supposed to act as a neutral force,” the ITLF said in the letter to the Union home minister.
It claimed that the post-mortem reports of the deceased clearly showed the men were shot from the back, proving that they were not engaged in a gunfight with security forces when they were gunned down.
“They were most likely ambushed or murdered after being captured. Also, all of them were shot multiple times (some had more than a dozen bullet wounds, mostly from their back), raising further questions about the moral and ethical conduct of the paramilitary force in using such excessive lethal force.