New Delhi: Kuki civil society organisations on Tuesday (December 5) expressed displeasure over the Supreme Court-appointed Justice (Retd) Gita Mittal committee report submitted in the apex court.

The committee, set up to oversee the relief and rehabilitation of the victims of ethnic clashes in Manipur, said in its report that there have been at least 175 deaths in the state. Of the total number of confirmed deaths reported, 169 bodies have been identified. Eighty-one bodies have been claimed by the next of kin, and 88 have been identified by the administration but have not been claimed yet. Six bodies remain unidentified (five in the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences and one in the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences).

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) and Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) in a press release on Tuesday denied that the committee had contacted them at all. 

They expressed disappointment with the committee’s report, stating that the committee only met with a few tribal leaders in the hill areas but ignored the leading civil society organisations of the Kuki community.

Education

Some tribal leaders who met with the committee brought up the issue of tribal students who had lost their education-related documents during the violence. They also discussed the relocation and continuation of classes for students enrolled in medical studies, engineering, nursing etc. 

Union home minister Amit Shah had said that he would ensure online education in Manipur but nothing on that front has panned out. Many students from the Kuki community took their semester examinations. After months of waiting for any action to be taken on Shah’s promise to formulate an online education plan, Kuki students from Manipur’s hill areas opted for admission to Kerala’s Kannur University.

Dead bodies

Tribal leaders also denied the committee’s report regarding the acceptance of dead bodies, questioning the committee for not meeting them and addressing their issues. 

According to COTU, “Being taken on a tour by the state authorities who, according to the tribals, have assisted the assailants, has its own problems regarding who the committee is introduced to by state officials for interaction. We would recommend that after completing the tour organised by the state, the above mentioned tribal organisations be consulted for a tour of the victim’s areas so that the committee may get accurate information from the tribal and victim’s point of view.”

Nine burial sites

Based on the committee’s report, the Supreme Court also issued directives for the burial or cremation of all those killed in the ethnic violence in the state, including the 88 that have been identified but not claimed by their next of kin, by December 11. 

Adding to this, the court also said, “Either the relatives of the deceased can accept the bodies and perform their last rites at any of the nine burial sites identified by the Manipur government, or the state can go ahead and do the same in accordance with municipal law, the court ordered.” 

Also read: Report in SC on Manipur Victims' Bodies in Morgues Highlights Deep Divides, State of Law and Order

In the press note, ITLF and COTU said, “We are concerned about the bodies of our community people since May 3, we have raised this issue multiple times, including to Amit Shah when he was here in Manipur.” The tribal leader also added that the state has all the facilities and if they have the intention to return the bodies, then they should have returned them by helicopter.

A leader of the Kuki Students Organisation (KSO), in a telephonic conversation with The Wire, also questioned the Manipur government on not letting tribal Leaders enter Imphal to verify and claim the bodies lying in the capital’s hospitals.

Compensation

On the compensation plan announced by the Union home minister in June, the committee stated in court that there were a few families who had refused to accept the compensation offered by the government.

“It would be an insult to the dead to accept money at this stage from the very state that engineered the ethnic cleansing. Hence the overall feeling is that after the dead bodies are buried with dignity according to tribal customs, then a decision can and will be taken as quickly as possible regarding compensation,” the tribal organisations said in response.

Reconstruction

The Kuki community also questioned the committee’s report on not initiating the construction of tribal houses and churches. 

They said they were unable to comprehend how the committee’s counsel could have said in court that the state was fully cooperating in the rehabilitation of the displaced people.

The Supreme Court has been apprised that more than 7,750 tribal houses in 197 villages were destroyed in the violence over the last six months. The work to rebuild them has not begun. On the contrary, without discussing with the tribal organisations, a contractor from Delhi has begun setting up plastic Porta cabins in some places. These cabins are unsuitable for the climate conditions in the hills where heavy winds, rain and landslides are common. Similarly, the top court was told about the 359 churches that were destroyed. However, construction work to rebuild them has not started.

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