Latest news with #HoikholhingHaokip
India.com
3 hours ago
- Politics
- India.com
Manipur: Normal life affected in Kuki-dominated Churachandpur after Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum enforces shutdown, roads blocked and...
Manipur: Normal life affected in Kuki-dominated Churachandpur after Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum enforces shutdown, roads blocked and... Life came to a stop in Manipur's Churachandpur district on Friday after a tribal group called for an indefinite shutdown. The protest was held after an elderly Kuki woman was killed during a gunfight. Shops and markets stayed closed, and there were very few vehicles on the roads. Members of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), including many women, were seen blocking roads with sticks in their hands, demanding justice for the woman. The woman, named Hoikholhing Haokip, died in a crossfire between security forces and some unknown armed men on Thursday evening. The incident took place in the Langchingmanbi and Heichanglok areas, where the security forces had gone for a search operation. The armed men fired at the security team, and a gun battle followed. Sadly, Haokip was caught in the firing and lost her life. Due to the shutdown, government offices had low attendance, and schools and colleges were shut. The ITLF blamed the central government for not doing enough to protect tribal people and their land. They demanded a proper and fair investigation into repeated violations of buffer zones areas meant to separate communities during this ongoing conflict. At the same time, a 24-hour shutdown also began in Kangpokpi district from 1 PM on Friday. The protest was supported by the Committee on Tribal Unity and other local groups from Churachandpur. Since May 2023, over 260 people have died, and thousands have become homeless due to ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities. On February 13, the central government imposed President's rule in Manipur after Chief Minister N. Biren Singh stepped down. The state assembly has been placed under suspended animation, even though its term was supposed to last until 2027. (With PTI inputs)
India Today
13 hours ago
- India Today
Kuki woman killed in crossfire, farmer injured, protests erupt in Manipur
A woman from the Kuki community was killed in a crossfire between security forces and suspected Kuki militants in Chingphei village of Churachandpur district on Thursday, shortly after a gun attack left a Meitei farmer injured in neighbouring Phubala village of Bishnupur district. The incident has reignited ethnic tensions in the region and triggered protests from both Meitei and Kuki to official sources, the firing began around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday after armed miscreants allegedly opened fire at Phubala, a low-lying agricultural village situated along the Bishnupur-Churachandpur assailants, reportedly positioned in the adjoining hills, fired multiple rounds at farmers working in the fields. Sixty-year-old Ningthoujam Biren, a Meitei farmer, was hit in the left arm and was rushed to Bishnupur District Hospital. Speaking from his hospital bed, Biren said, 'I was working in the fields when I heard five gunshots. One of them hit me. We couldn't even see who fired.' Following the attack, security forces launched an area domination operation in nearby Chingphei village, which led to an encounter with suspected militants. During the exchange of fire, a woman identified as Hoikholhing Haokip, wife of Khaikhogin Haokip, the village chief of Langchingmanbi in Churachandpur, was struck by a stray bullet. She was rushed to Churachandpur District Hospital but succumbed to her injuries authorities have not released an official statement on the circumstances surrounding her death, they confirmed that the situation remains tense in both districts. Additional state and central forces have been deployed to prevent further violence and maintain response to the Phubala firing, angry villagers imposed a local bandh, demanding stronger protection for farmers in vulnerable border areas. Women from Phubala also issued an ultimatum to the Governor, Chief Secretary, and Director General of Police, demanding identification and action against the perpetrators by 11 a.m. on Friday, June 21. They warned of a statewide shutdown if their demands are not the death of Hoikholhing Haokip has drawn sharp criticism from Kuki civil society organisations. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) condemned the incident, calling it 'yet another targeted assault aimed at the cleansing of the Kuki-Zo minority.'The ITLF announced an indefinite shutdown across Kuki-dominated areas as a protest and period of mourning. They also demanded immediate action against those responsible, Central government intervention to protect tribal lives, and an independent investigation into alleged violations of buffer Kuki Women's Organisation for Human Rights (KWOHR) echoed these concerns, calling for the immediate arrest of those involved in Hoikholhing's death and a judicial probe into the incident. The group also called for accountability over all recent buffer zone developments come amid ongoing ethnic unrest in Manipur, which has witnessed recurring violence and clashes since May 2023 between Kuki and Meitei communities. Just days earlier, on June 15, another confrontation erupted in Leitanpokpi, Imphal East, over disputed farmland, further highlighting the fragile peace in the both communities mourn their respective losses and express their anger, the threat of more unrest looms large unless effective measures are taken to de-escalate tensions and ensure safety for civilians in vulnerable Watch
The Hindu
19 hours ago
- The Hindu
Woman killed in fresh Manipur violence
A Kuki woman was killed in Manipur's Churachandpur district on Thursday (June 19, 2025), a day after suspected extremists fired at and injured a Meitei farmer in the adjoining Bishnupur district. There were no official statements on either incident, but the Kuki Women's Organisation for Human Rights (KWOHR) blamed the death of Hoikholhing Haokip of Langchingmanbi village on Meitei militants. In the afternoon of June 18, a man identified as Ningthoujam Biren was injured after suspected Kuki extremists fired at farmers on the border between Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts. Eyewitnesses said Mr. Biren and two other farmers were working on a paddy field at Phubala in Bishnupur district when five rounds were fired at them from a hillock in the adjoining Churachandpur district. 'He was taken to the district hospital after a bullet struck his left forearm,' a villager said. The Phubala villagers slammed the government for failing to ensure the security of the farmers working close to the vulnerable 'buffer zone', which separates the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley from the surrounding hills where the Kuki-Zos are in the majority. After the incident, angry Bishnupur locals blocked a highway leading to Churachandpur, demanding action against armed Kuki fighters. A women's group threatened a total shutdown across the Imphal Valley from Friday (June 20, 2025) if top State government officials did not visit the affected area. In a statement, the KWOHR condemned the killing of Ms. Haokip allegedly by Meitei militants. 'Despite the presence of a government-declared buffer zone intended to prevent clashes between Meitei and Kuki communities, Meitei militants have repeatedly violated and crossed the buffer line, provoking tensions and directly endangering the lives of innocent civilians,' it said. The organisation demanded the immediate arrest and punishment of the perpetrators of the crime, strict enforcement of the buffer zone with equal accountability on both sides, deployment of neutral Central forces to ensure peace and a judicial inquiry into this incident as well as all recent buffer zone violations. This was the second incident involving farmers working on fields along the buffer zone. On June 15, a confrontation between Kuki and Meitei villagers on the border between Imphal East and Kangpokpi districts sparked tension. According to the Manipur police, the Kukis objected to Meitei farmers working on a paddy field they claimed as theirs. Shooting at farmers working on fields along the buffer zone used to be frequent after the ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo people broke out on May 3, 2023. Such incidents have not been reported after Manipur came under the President's Rule on February 13. The ethnic conflict left more than 250 people dead and some 60,000 others displaced.
