Imphal/Churachandpur Muolvaiphei, Valpakot, Ngurte, Thenmol and Khawpuibing are non-descript tribal villages dominated by Hmar in from Manipur Churachandpur district, nearly 65 km from the state capital, Imphal.

They are also the epicenter of an investigation into a heinous crime and the site of a possible new fracture in a state that has been ravaged by 18 months of ethnic conflict.

The state government and security forces are convinced that the five villages are harboring militants who have traveled nearly 250 km to Jiribama town bordering Manipur-Assam, attacked security forces on November 11 and killed two elderly residents of Meitei. It is believed that there were 30-40 of them; 10 were killed in an ensuing firefight with security forces. The survivors escaped, but with six Meiteis, women and children (the youngest was eight months old) whose bodies were found at various locations in Jiribam and across the border in Assam. The protests that have rocked Imphal over the past week, including the vandalism of legislators’ and ministers’ homes, are a sign of public anger at the state’s failure to save women and children.

For the Kuki-Zo-Hmar tribal people of Manipur, the 10 are heroes and martyrs. The city of Churachandpur is littered with photographs of the 10 men. There are posters that say “Welcome Home”. Others say: Honor to our fallen heroes.

On November 18, when the bodies were airlifted to Churachandpur by security forces, Kuki-Zo-Hmar legislators, including local MLA LM Khaute, and former Manipur police chief from 2016 to 2021, who received the bodies, rejected the allegations of the state government. and security forces that the men were militants; their families claimed the men were all civilians who took up arms to defend their villages following ethnic conflict in the state.

Read more: Manipur murders: Autopsy of all six bodies conducted; families are not ready to accept them for last rites

Tinneilam, the wife of Lalseiemlin Hmar(34), one of the gunmen killed, said her husband was not a militant but a graphic designer. “We have a computer accessories store in Churachandpur. Last year, he went to the front line to defend the villages. It is a civilian for whom he took up arms in this conflict. Until the 2020 pandemic, he was in Delhi and did a computer course there. He is not militant.”

Ramhmasoum, who is the elder brother of the slain gunman Lalthanei Infinate(23), the youngest of the 10 suspected militants, said his brother is a painter.

“I refuse to believe that my son and his friends kidnapped and later killed the women and children. Before the conflict, he wanted to study and was ready to take his Grade 10 exam at the National Open Learning Institute,” said Vanthleiphui, Ruolnesiang’s mother(22).

At least 250 people have been killed and more than 50,000 left homeless in the ethnic conflict between the Meiteis and Kuki-Zo-Hmar tribal groups, which began on May 3 last year.

The five villages are on the radar of security agencies who believe they hold the key to the identity of the men behind the killing of the six women and children.

“The truth behind the killing of the six women and children is in those villages. These are prominent Hmar villages, so the gunmen are all from here. All the 10 men killed, who are from the Hmar tribe, were from those five villages, so it can be assumed that the 30-40 armed men who went to Jiribam that afternoon are only from there. If the NIA succeeds in conducting raids in the villages, the identity of all the other gunmen will become clear,” said a senior police officer posted in Manipur’s Imphal valley.

Following the protests in Imphal, the cases were transferred to the NIA, a federal agency. Images of decomposing bodies, such as one showing the headless body of a two-and-a-half-year-old child, fueled tension in Imphal, prompting the government to shut down the internet.

The five villages are also closely watched by security forces and intelligence agencies as they have suddenly become a meeting place for all Kuki-Zo-Tribal leaders.

The leaders met to discuss the killing of the 10, to protest what they call the slaughter of civilians by central security forces, ways to encourage young people to stay on the front lines defending their villages and counter the allegation that Gunmen from Hmar killed six unarmed women and children.

The Hmar community refused to bury the 10 men until they received copies of the post-mortem reports from the government. Following the exchange of fire, the Kuki-Zo-Hmar tribals were quick to call the 10 men “martrys” and announced that the bodies would be transported by road from Silchar (Assam) to Churachandpur for the tribals to -he pays his last respects; in response, the security forces took the body directly to Churachandpur, fearing a possible breach of law and order.

“We believe the men were tortured and killed. That’s why we ask for the post-mortem reports. If this is not done, we will not bury the bodies. If they refuse our reports, a second post-mortem will be conducted at Churachandpur district hospital,” said Ramneisang Faiheng, development secretary of Hmar Students Association (HSA).

Each of the villages in Churachandpur has sent groups of 15-20 to guard the Churachandpur District Hospital to ensure that there are people to supervise the morgue.

On a road leading to one of the villages, Mulovaiphei, the road is strewn with black flags and the photo of one of the 10 alleged militants killed, Lalthanei Infimate(22). “We did this for all the villages. They are not militants. They are village volunteers who went to defend our villages because a woman from our community was raped and killed on November 7 there. Pherzawl district, which is sparsely populated and shares borders with both Churachandpur and Jiribam, has become vulnerable to attacks from Jiribam, so volunteers from our village have gone there to defend the Kuki-Zo people,” he said an HSA spokesman.

The killings of the six women and children may have turned public opinion against the Kukis.

A senior officer from a security force posted in Churachandpur said, “During a peace meeting with the leaders of the tribal community here, I told them that they had made a mistake by killing those unarmed women and children. No one will forgive them for this crime. There is a war in the state between these communities, but even then, there is a code to follow. I told them that the national media and neutral people were now against them for the horrible crimes. If they oppose central agencies raiding their village, they will only end up on the wrong side of national public opinion.”

The state government under Biren Singh, which has not tried much to hide its loyalties — Singh himself is a Meitei — is pressing home what it sees as an advantage. In a resolution dated November 18, the government demanded that the militants be declared members of terrorist groups. The Center has already sent more than 70 companies of paramilitary forces to the state to ensure that communities do not cross the buffer zones between the valley and the hills and attack each other. Most of the residents of these villages believe that this will lead to massive force operations. The Kuki-Zo-Hmar tribal MPs, who are against Biren Singh, on Wednesday opposed the resolution calling for mass operations against a single community and instead called for a dialogue to restore peace. “The Center and the state government must take all necessary steps to restore peace and normalcy in Manipur by initiating a political dialogue to bring lasting peace to the troubled region,” the 10 rebel MLAs said in the statement.

The mood on the streets of Imphal against the Kuki-Hmar-Zo community is clear. An official of Meitei’s group, COCOMI, said: “Until the security agencies arrest all the militants and bring them out of hiding, the protests will continue. It will intensify even more.”

A senior officer of a paramilitary force in Churachandpur, who asked not to be named, said, “Violence in Manipur has come in waves. In this wave, the Kuki-Zo tribals have lost when it comes to public opinion. Young men and civilians from both sides raised their arms. Tribal civil society organizations suddenly hide behind the age of the gunmen and make claims that they are farmers, painters and innocent civilians. Perhaps the village defense volunteers have gone rogue…”

The officer said there are many unanswered questions.

“These men are from five villages in Churachandpur. What were they doing in Jiribam, almost 250 km away? It takes 10-12 hours to get there. Whose villages were they protecting there? Most importantly, how will they explain the confiscated RPG launcher recovered from them? Where did they get it from?”

He, other security officers and the state government all believe the answers can be found in the five villages.