GUWAHATI: In fresh violence in Manipur, a Kuki woman was shot dead while a Meitei farmer sustained bullet wounds on Thursday.
Ningthoujam Biren, the farmer, was injured when a bullet fired by alleged Kuki militants hit him in his left forearm.
The incident occurred at Phubala in Bishnupur district of the Imphal Valley at around 3:15 p.m. when Biren was working in his field along with two other farmers. The Meitei-majority Bishnupur district adjoins the Kuki-majority Churachandpur district.
The injured man, who was rushed to a hospital, said he had heard the sound of five gunshots.
Following the incident, angry locals blocked a highway leading to Churachandpur district. They suspected the involvement of Kuki militants and demanded action against them.
Local women demanded the presence of top state government officials at Phubala, warning that there would be a total shutdown of the state from Friday if their demand was not met. When reports last came in, the situation was said to be tense.
Meanwhile, the Kuki Women Organisation for Human Rights condemned the killing of Hoikholhing Haokip, wife of Langchingmanbi village chief Khaikhogin Haokip, allegedly by Meitei militants at Langchingmanbi in Churachandpur district.
“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,” the organisation said in a statement.
It 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.
The ethnic conflict between Meiteis and Kukis, which erupted on 3 May 2023, has left over 250 people dead and around 60,000 others displaced.