Jaws of Death' Looms as Kuki-Zo Fringe Teeters Post Central Forces Exit : CoTU

Amidst the 12-hour total shutdown enforced by the Committee on Tribal Unity in Sadar Hills Kangpokpi District, hundreds of Kuki-Zo men and women, draped in mournful black, gathered to honor a fallen Kuki-Zo Village Volunteer as they solemnly laid their comrade to rest at the Martyrs' Cemetery in Sadar Hills' Phaijang village today.

A 45-year-old father of five children, Lammang Kipgen, a Kuki-Zo Village Volunteer, was killed during a brutal attack unleashed by suspected armed Meitei militants and the Arambai Tenggol early this morning at Bethel village in the fringe of Sadar Hill's Leimakhong-Kangchup region.

The burial ceremony for the fallen Kuki-Zo Village Volunteer was conducted under the auspices of the Committee on Tribal Unity, Sadar Hills, Kangpokpi District. It was attended by various prominent Kuki-Zo leaders, civil society organizations, as well as the bereaved family and their loved ones.

Following the killing of the Kuki-Zo Village Volunteer, the Committee enforced a 12-hour total shutdown from 12 noon today until 12 midnight across the entire Sadar Hills Kangpokpi District.

All business establishments closed their shutters during the total shutdown, while the typically bustling National Highway 2 wore a deserted look as vehicular movement came to a standstill, except for emergency services such as medical, airport, and media, which were exempt from the shutdown.

On the sideline of the burial ceremony, CoTU's Media Cell Coordinator, Ng. Lun Kipgen said that The Kuki-Zo have placed our existence to survive from the "Jaws of Death" in the hands of our Central Security Forces, but today, we just buried one of our braveheart volunteers who gave his life for our tomorrow following the withdrawal of the central security forces.

He continued that What baffles us now is why these Central security forces were withdrawn from all fringe areas when the aggression from the valley is still ongoing.

He said that post the withdrawal of central security forces, there has been a significant surge in the movement of Meitei militants and Arambai Tenggol across the fringe areas of Sadar Hills Kangpokpi District plunging the peripheral regions into chaos.

He pointed out that central security forces were initially withdrawn from certain fringe areas before the Lok Sabha polls, citing election duties and following a bomb blast near Saparmeina along NH-2, vehemently condemned by several Kuki-Zo bodies, more withdrawals took place in most Sadar Hills fringe areas, creating a pathway for Valley-Based Insurgent Groups to advance closer into the Kuki-Zo fringe regions.

He recalled that after central security forces exit, a two-day gun battle broke out in the Phaileng-Luwangsanggol border area of Sadar Hills Kangpokpi on April 23, triggered by attacks from Meitei militants and the Arambai Tenggol followed by another brutal assault in fringe areas of L. Khonomphai, Wakan, and Sinam Kom in the Saikul region on April 26.

He also recalled that prior to this morning's attack, on Saturday evening, women and children from Kharam Vaiphei and L. Phaijang villages in Kangchup-Leimakhong were evacuated to safer places due to an ambush on the Kuki-Zo Village Volunteers in the Lambung area and following the mounting tensions with the anxious movements of Meitei militants and Arambai Tenggol in the fringe areas of Sadar Hill's Leimakhong-Kangchup region.

He further said that Meitei militants, and the Arambai Tenggol, fired bullets towards Phaileng-Luwangsanggol on the same Saturday evening, with no casualties reported and additionally, residents observed militants advancing toward Gamgiphai after central security forces withdrew, a previously unseen movement.

He said that the pressing issue at hand is who will be held accountable for any untoward incidents following the exit of central security forces, leaving a void in the buffer zones.

He wondered, "Will the central government leave the minority Kuki-Zo community exposed in the jaws of death?"

He also said that power comes with responsibility and accountability; without them, it becomes a total "Banana Republic," and he asked, "How much more of our blood needs to be shed for the Kuki-Zo to eventually prove our patriotism?"