Imphal, Nov 2 A Kuki organisation in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district on Monday extended the ongoing “total shutdown” by 48 hours in the district to protest the killing of two youths.
In a statement, the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) condemned the government’s alleged inaction over the killing of two Kuki civilians.
The mutilated bodies of two youths, who had gone missing from Taphou Kuki village last week, were found in a hilly stretch in adjoining Senapati district on Sunday morning.
Following the discovery of the bodies, CoTU had called a 24-hour shutdown in the district from Sunday.
CoTU extended the shutdown call in protest against the government’s “shameful indecision, unacceptable silence and continued failure to initiate any tangible action to deliver justice for the brutal and inhumane killing of two innocent Kuki Zo civilians.”
During the shutdown, schools, medical, media and airport services will be exempted for essential travel, the statement said.
The COTU said the Kuki-Zo people will not accept empty assurances and demanded concrete, decisive and time-bound action against those responsible for the killings.
More than 50 people have been killed and dozens of houses burnt across Tamenglong, Noney, Kamjong, Ukhrul and Kangpokpi districts since ethnic clashes broke out between Kuki and Naga communities in February this year.
The state had earlier witnessed ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kukis, in which over 300 people were killed, while 49 remained missing, and thousands were rendered homeless since May 2023.
(PTI News)
