Kuki-Zo community holds candlelight vigil on 32nd Remembrance Day in Kangpokpi

The Kuki-Zo community observed the 32nd Remembrance Day on January 3 at the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) office at Brig. M. Thomas Ground in Kangpokpi, marking the first observance under a new resolution to treat the third day of every month as a fixed day of remembrance amid the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur.

 

Leaders of various civil society organisations, CoTU executives and church representatives attended the programme. A minute of silence was observed in memory of those described as Kuki-Zo martyrs, followed by prayers for bereaved families, internally displaced persons and the community’s demand for a separate administrative arrangement.

 

Addressing the media, CoTU joint secretary Lamminlun Singsit said all civil society organisations in Sadar Hills, Kangpokpi district, had unanimously decided to observe Remembrance Day on the third of every month.

 

He announced that a complete shutdown would be enforced on each Remembrance Day. All government offices, private institutions, educational establishments and business entities will remain closed, while public and private programmes will not be permitted. Community members will also refrain from travel, farming and commercial activities as a mark of mourning and protest.

 

Singsit said the observance would be held simultaneously at five locations across Kangpokpi district — Martyrs’ Cemetery at Phaijang, Saikul Public Ground, Twilang area, Leimakhong and New Keithelmanbi area.

 

Civil society organisations also reaffirmed that May 3 will continue to be observed annually as Separation Day, which leaders described as symbolising an irreversible rupture caused by the ongoing conflict. The central observance will be held at Martyrs’ Cemetery, Phaijang, and marked by a 12-hour total shutdown, including a complete ban on vehicular movement.

 

Reiterating the community’s political position, Singsit said the Kuki-Zo people now consider themselves irreversibly separated from the Meitei majority and called on the Government of India to recognise their demand for a separate administration in the form of a Union Territory with a legislature.