On Friday of last week, I received tragic news. Another village was sacked, creating 50 more Christian refugees in Manipur. I am devastated to report that a mother of three was brutally killed in the raid. To make matters worse, the volunteer Zo army dispatched to the village was betrayed by government forces as they passed through the buffer zone—ten people were shot in the back.
Below is the eulogy from Lamka to honor the murdered mother, followed by a description of the events from the perspective of one of our ministry partners, who also serves as a volunteer army coordinator. -----
EULOGY TO OUR FALLEN HEROES
ZOSANGKIM HMAR (31 years)
Wife of Pu Ngurthansang Hmar of Zairawn Village, Jiribam District, Manipur
Cause of Death:
Burned alive by Meitei militants on 7th November 2024 (Thursday) at around 9:00 PM
Eighteen months since the start of their ethnic-cleansing campaign, the atrocities committed by the Meiteis remain unabated. On 7th November 2024, armed Meitei militants attacked the peaceful village of Zairawn in Jiribam, burning down more than 16 houses.
During the attack, they captured and shot an unarmed woman, Mrs. Zosangkim Hmar, a mother of three and the wife of Mr. Ngurthansang Hmar, wounding her in the leg. They then burned the bleeding woman to death, leaving her as nothing more than a pile of ash.
Rather than sparing a defenseless woman, the attackers continued their pattern of brutality, which in the past has often denied victims an honorable burial due to the savage treatment of corpses. Zosangkim's killers refused to grant her that final dignity.
This horrific act shatters any illusions of peace and serves as a grim reminder of our enemy's ultimate intention: to kill us all and seize our land. We pray for her soul to rest in peace, and we hope this tragedy awakens us to the war we have been forced into, a war to defend our lives, our way of life, and our ancestral land and freedom.
May her soul rest in peace!
KSO Media & Documentation Cell08.11.2024 (Friday)
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Update from Lamka, 11/13/24.
Conversation with a ministry partner. Re: Zairawn Massacre
"
Q: Can you tell me what happened after the attack on Zairawn?
R: Yes, I have an update, but I don’t know where to start their story. There are village volunteers protecting Zairawn village. The Indian army, who is maintaining the buffer zone between the Kuki Zo and the Meitei, allowed these 30 volunteers to pass through their camps to get to the village. These volunteers, having no enmity with the Indian army, simply passed through. Sadly, right after they crossed the camp, the army fired at them from behind, killing seven instantly, and three others were later killed with shovels. All of them were from our town.
Now their bodies are in the mortuary at Silchar Medical College in Assam, which is a neighboring state of Manipur. When our people went there today to claim the bodies, the Manipur Meitei Police intervened and halted the procedure, likely because it would expose the extrajudicial killings. Discussions are still ongoing.
This incident shook me to my core. You know, it could happen to me at any time because I am also managing volunteers.
Q: I don't understand. The federal army killed the Zo volunteer unit?
R: Yes.* It is the Federal Army and Manipur Police staying together in the buffer zone camp. The sad reality is that, from the beginning of the conflict, the situation was kept under control by the Federal Army. These forces were not, and could not be, directly controlled by the Manipur state government, so we had some amount of protections. The Manipur state government, along with the Meitei population, has been protesting for the removal of the Federal Army and for them to be replaced by the federal reserve police. Although the reserve police come from the federal government, they are ultimately under the control of the state government where they are deployed.
During the past year of conflict, no casualties or aggressive actions were reported as coming from the Federal Army. They maintained neutrality and prevented both the Kuki-Zo and the Meitei from fighting freely, keeping the stalemate. But with these recent killings, it seems we are now experiencing a change in the status quo.
Sean, it's hard. It hurts to be a minority.
"
***11/15/24 UPDATE:
Reports on the ground have confirmed that the buffer zone in question was guarded by the Central Reserve Police Force - not the Federal Army.... there is a change of guard happening in the conflict zones, and the CRPF is now being used to control certain areas.
Per our contact: "Pictures have emerged that show the village volunteers that were allegedly neutralized by the CRPF had their eyes plucked out. This seriously raises the question: were the CRPF really behind the brutal massacre of 11 village volunteers, or did they just take the blame? Are the Meitei militants using the CRPF as a guise to indiscriminately kill innocent Kuki-Zo Village volunteers, who are merely guarding their ancestral lands and community from Meitei attacks? Whatever the answers to these questions may be, it is clear that the CRPF cannot be trusted. They are not neutral forces but rather another tool used by the Meitei government to rationalize the brutal killing of Kuki-Zo tribals."
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Viewer Discretion Advised.
The following video was uploaded to Meitei social media. It documents the burning of a house in Zairawn on 11/7/24. Posting violent videos online has become a common practice in the ongoing conflict and highlights the celebratory nature of the oppression against the Kuki-Zo.
11/19
Update:
The bodies of the fallen volunteers are carried in procession through downtown Lamka.
Thousands of Kuki-Zo attended to honor the lost.
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