Wedding, abductions and missing men – Kuki-Naga faceoff has Manipur on edge
Tensions spiralled after the killing of three church leaders on May 13. Both sides responded by taking hostages
On May 12, the Thiumai family had gathered at their native village to celebrate their youngest brother Paisho’s wedding. As the wedding party dispersed the next morning, they got caught up in the mass abductions that gripped Manipur following the death of three church leaders. One week later, nobody seems to know where two of the groom’s elder brothers are.
They are among six Naga men who have been missing since May 13, when, amidst tensions between Manipur’s Kuki and Naga communities, dozens of villagers from both sides were abducted and held captive. After a day-long stand-off, both sides had released 14 such captive individuals each on the morning of May 15. However, these six men were not among those released.
Naga groups allege that they had been taken captive by Kuki groups, while the latter maintain that they have released all hostages and have no information about these six men. Security forces are now undertaking extensive search operations to locate them, even as Naga groups say they will continue to keep 14 Kuki men hostage until the six men are located.
The hostage crisis is playing out in the Kuki-Zo majority Kangpokpi district and the Naga-majority Senapati district.
The wedding took place in Konsakhul, a Liangmai Naga village in Kangpokpi. Three members of the groom’s family are missing: His brother Manu Thiumai, a pastor at a Baptist church in nearby Leimakhong who also runs a school there; another brother, Dilip Thiumai, who works at the Leimakhong military station; and a relative named Phenri Lungbou. Their nephew, Simon Chawang, said the last time he saw them was on the morning of May 13.
That morning, tensions escalated in the state when three church leaders from the Thadou Baptist Association were killed in an attack on their vehicles while they were travelling from Churachandpur to Kangpokpi. Kuki groups alleged that Naga armed groups were responsible, and abducted a number of Naga villagers “in response.”
“Phenri drives an autorickshaw, and he and another autodriver, Kaliwangbou (who is also missing), had taken a group of women from the village to the market in Khurkhul (Imphal West) to sell produce. They were all stopped while they were travelling,” Simon said.
While Kuki groups say that they do not have information about these men, the wives of these three men are among the 14 who had been held captive and released. “Even they don’t know anything because they said that they were dragged out of their vehicles by villagers of a neighbouring Kuki village, and then separated from the men. It’s been a week, and we don’t have any clear information about whether they’re dead or alive,” he said.
After the Konsakhul villagers were abducted, Naga groups had abducted more than two dozen Kuki villagers in Senapati. They still continue to hold 14 of them.
Taphou village headman Lenkhomang Chongloi said that most of those abducted had left the village that morning to gather firewood in the jungle. “They crossed Senapati town without knowing what was happening in different parts of Manipur. By the time we heard that there had been an ambush attack and abductions near Leimakhong, we reached out and told them to be alert and careful. But they were captured at Senapati while returning,” he said.
“We don’t know exactly where they are being held, but we have heard that they are safe so far. There are discussions happening about this between the civil society organisations and both Deputy Chief Ministers,” he said.
While the two villages wait for the return of their men, they find themselves in a situation that has become all-too familiar in a state which has been scarred and divided by over three years of conflict.
Simon had also left the Konsakhul earlier that morning and is now unable to make his way back. “Even those who have been released are being kept safe elsewhere because we don’t have passage to our village, the road to which passes through Kuki villages,” he said.
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On May 12, the Thiumai family had gathered at their native village to celebrate their youngest brother Paisho’s wedding. As the wedding party dispersed the next morning, they got caught up in the mass abductions that gripped Manipur following the death of three church leaders. One week later, nobody seems to know where two of the groom’s elder brothers are.
They are among six Naga men who have been missing since May 13, when, amidst tensions between Manipur’s Kuki and Naga communities, dozens of villagers from both sides were abducted and held captive. After a day-long stand-off, both sides had released 14 such captive individuals each on the morning of May 15. However, these six men were not among those released.
Naga groups allege that they had been taken captive by Kuki groups, while the latter maintain that they have released all hostages and have no information about these six men. Security forces are now undertaking extensive search operations to locate them, even as Naga groups say they will continue to keep 14 Kuki men hostage until the six men are located.
The hostage crisis is playing out in the Kuki-Zo majority Kangpokpi district and the Naga-majority Senapati district.
The wedding took place in Konsakhul, a Liangmai Naga village in Kangpokpi. Three members of the groom’s family are missing: His brother Manu Thiumai, a pastor at a Baptist church in nearby Leimakhong who also runs a school there; another brother, Dilip Thiumai, who works at the Leimakhong military station; and a relative named Phenri Lungbou. Their nephew, Simon Chawang, said the last time he saw them was on the morning of May 13.
That morning, tensions escalated in the state when three church leaders from the Thadou Baptist Association were killed in an attack on their vehicles while they were travelling from Churachandpur to Kangpokpi. Kuki groups alleged that Naga armed groups were responsible, and abducted a number of Naga villagers “in response.”
“Phenri drives an autorickshaw, and he and another autodriver, Kaliwangbou (who is also missing), had taken a group of women from the village to the market in Khurkhul (Imphal West) to sell produce. They were all stopped while they were travelling,” Simon said.
While Kuki groups say that they do not have information about these men, the wives of these three men are among the 14 who had been held captive and released. “Even they don’t know anything because they said that they were dragged out of their vehicles by villagers of a neighbouring Kuki village, and then separated from the men. It’s been a week, and we don’t have any clear information about whether they’re dead or alive,” he said.
After the Konsakhul villagers were abducted, Naga groups had abducted more than two dozen Kuki villagers in Senapati. They still continue to hold 14 of them.
Taphou village headman Lenkhomang Chongloi said that most of those abducted had left the village that morning to gather firewood in the jungle. “They crossed Senapati town without knowing what was happening in different parts of Manipur. By the time we heard that there had been an ambush attack and abductions near Leimakhong, we reached out and told them to be alert and careful. But they were captured at Senapati while returning,” he said.
“We don’t know exactly where they are being held, but we have heard that they are safe so far. There are discussions happening about this between the civil society organisations and both Deputy Chief Ministers,” he said.
While the two villages wait for the return of their men, they find themselves in a situation that has become all-too familiar in a state which has been scarred and divided by over three years of conflict.
Simon had also left the Konsakhul earlier that morning and is now unable to make his way back. “Even those who have been released are being kept safe elsewhere because we don’t have passage to our village, the road to which passes through Kuki villages,” he said.
