New Delhi: While the Manipur government has not yet made any official announcement on the death toll caused by two days of arson and mob violence since May 3 night in different parts of the state, local news outlets have come up with some numbers based on eyewitness and victim family accounts, and also hospital morgue records.
This afternoon, the Ukhrul Times has put the toll at 31, citing hospital records.
The report said the outlet “has learnt that the number of dead count in (at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) Imphal morgue has reached 18 while the number of bodies brought in to Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) Imphal has climbed to 13 as of Friday (May 4).”
“However, identification of the bodies is not available at the time of filing this report. The number of casualties in other parts of Manipur arising out of the ethnic violence between the Kuki tribals and Meitei/Meetei community is feared to be much higher,” the report said.
Earlier in the day, The Wire had set the death toll at 13, drawing from two confirmations made by a victim’s family and an eye witness account, aside from 11 other deaths counted by the Imphal-based Sangai Express.
Various people that The Wire has reached out to have said there was considerable peace for several hours since May 4 morning.
A Delhi-based student from Churachandpur town, Tawna Valte, said his family has said that police carried out a march through the town area and some other parts of the district but at around 3 pm, “they could hear gunshots being fired in a nearby village between two communities.”
Yet another resident of the town, Muanlian Tonsing said several tribals “are trapped in the valley as they are scared of heading to the hills by road as they fear that mobs would surround them on the way.”
Another resident of Saikul town said he could hear gunshots on May 4 afternoon too.
The violence started on May 3 in the backdrop of massive opposition by Manipur’s tribal communities to the demand of the state’s majority community, the Meiteis, for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
As The Wire has reported earlier, the state has shut down internet services for five days, and a curfew is imposed in eight districts of Manipur, including non-tribal dominated Imphal West, Kakching, Thoubal, Jiribam, and Bishnupur districts, as well as tribal-dominated Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, and Tengnoupal districts. Visuals of fire, gunshots and stone-pelting are being circulated all over social media.
Separately, the army has issued a statement saying that “prompt response by the security forces led to the rescuing of civilians of all communities from various minority pockets of areas affected by the violence. As a result of proactive and timely response, Churachandpur, KPI, Moreh and Kakching are now under firm control with no major violence reported since yesterday [May 4] night.”
Photo: Special arrangement
It added that “more than 100 [army] columns are working tirelessly towards restoring law and order in Manipur at the earliest.”
“Indian Army remains committed to restore law and order and appeals for peace and urges all communities to shun the path of violence,” it said.
