CHURACHANDPUR, INDIA: Kamlallian Ype’s family refuses to bury the rotting corpse in protest of his killing in an ethnic conflict in India.
According to his friend P Hentinglian, Kamlallian Ype, 35, of the predominantly Christian Kuki tribe, was killed while fleeing attackers from the majority of Meitei people, who are mostly Hindus.
The 25-year-old told AFP at the Churachandpur mortuary that he was shot in the back and fell. He went on to say that they approached him and shot him in the face. He claimed to have witnessed everything.
India a tinderbox of ethnic conflicts
Around 60 people have been killed on both sides in fights in Manipur’s rugged northeastern state, and 35,000 people have fled their homes since last week.
The far-flung states of northeast India, located between Bangladesh, China, and Myanmar, have long been a tinderbox of ethnic conflicts. The family members of Kukis killed in the current tragedy are now demanding their own entity.
Siamting, Ype’s eldest sister, said Ype’s widow and their four sons seek nothing from the Manipur state government and regard him as a “martyr for the people… for the tribal community.”
She went on to say that what she really wants now is for tribal areas to be separated from Manipur and for the Indian government to create a separate state for tribals in the region.
Another father of four, Lalthansang Siekzathang, a daily wage laborer, was among the deceased in the mortuary. Ype’s widow, Jelevi Hmingthangmoi, 30, believes that “true justice” would be “a separate state cut away from Imphal” — the regional capital — “which only promotes one community.”
Both women have stated that their families will not hold funerals for their men until the government meets their demands. Siamting, his sister, stated that he died for our country. She stated that he is still at the mortuary since his demands have not been met.
