The Hongbei massacre of four Understanding the angst
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The circumstances, the timing, the purpose, if one can call it a purpose, were all wrong and one can understand the tears and angst of the people of Ukhrul, correction, Tangkhul folks. The question doing the round is, why were four young lads, all belonging to the Eastern Flank of the NSCN, done to death seemingly in cold blood by cadres of the same organisation, NSCN (IM) ? Already speculations are doing the round and it is an answer to this query that is being sought and is central to the manner in which a mob built up and targeted the office of the Wung Tangkhul Region (WTR) of the NSCN (IM). An internal matter of the outfit is a line that will not cut ice with the Tangkhul people, if one takes into consideration the reality at the ground level. And apart from targeting the office of the WTR of the outfit, reports have also come in of concerned neighbours of a senior leader of the NSCN (IM) moving out furnitures, utensils and movable goods from his house to be taken to a safer location fearing the build up of a mob. One day after the bodies of the four slain cadres were brought to Ukhrul district headquarters, a total shutdown was imposed on Ukhrul town with exceptions made only for people on emergency such as medical and students appearing for examinations. Seldom is it that the whole town of Ukhrul goes into shutdown mode, and this should say so many significant things. If one goes by what the Eastern Flank of the outfit has had to say, a name has been picked up uttering the line, ‘It’s them we are ordered to shoot’, indicating that the order to shoot and kill the four cadres came from a higher level. Significantly the picture of the man or cadre who came out with this said line has gone viral on the social media and this has already left an impact. The Naga Army, on the other hand, has clarified that no such order has been issued from the general headquarters and it is against this that the Tangkhul people are demanding that the truth be told to them. Only time can tell if the whole undiluted truth will come out in the public domain or not, but one point that all seem to agree upon is, the killings made no sense and it came at the wrong time. There can be no such thing as killing at the right time but what happened at Hongbei village in Kamjong district on May 28 night has only muddied the water further and made things more confusing and unclear to the Tangkhul folks who are already reeling under pressure from different directions.
Fratricidal killings and this at a time when people are beginning to place unconditional faith and belief on indigeniety, the term that has started drawing the people closer to each other. Circumstances work in strange ways and if the Nagas, particularly the Tangkhuls, and the Meiteis, could not see eye to eye on many things in the past, the reality in the last three years seems to have drawn the people on either side closer. Supping from the indigeniety plate, this was what could be ascertained at the ground reality and the sense of oneness, of belonging to the same soil, of sharing the same ground on which one walks and drinking water from the same water body and this became all that more palpable after May 3, 2023 and February 8, 2026 after the Litan outrage. This is what makes the Hongbei incident all that more tragic and to many unacceptable. Last heard, the NSCN (IM) has reportedly set up an inquiry commission to look into the matter and dig out the truth of what really happened and hopefully to fix responsibility. The faith that people, particularly the Nagas, have reposed on the outfit should not be allowed to erode due to any short-sightedness. If the Naga movement has managed to come to such a level today, it is in no small measure due to the far sightedness of its leaders and this is a legacy that simply cannot be allowed to be erased. The onus of fixing responsibility lies on the outfit. And remember eyes will be fixed on April 10, the date that has been given by the NSCN (IM) to submit the inquiry report.
Fratricidal killings and this at a time when people are beginning to place unconditional faith and belief on indigeniety, the term that has started drawing the people closer to each other. Circumstances work in strange ways and if the Nagas, particularly the Tangkhuls, and the Meiteis, could not see eye to eye on many things in the past, the reality in the last three years seems to have drawn the people on either side closer. Supping from the indigeniety plate, this was what could be ascertained at the ground reality and the sense of oneness, of belonging to the same soil, of sharing the same ground on which one walks and drinking water from the same water body and this became all that more palpable after May 3, 2023 and February 8, 2026 after the Litan outrage. This is what makes the Hongbei incident all that more tragic and to many unacceptable. Last heard, the NSCN (IM) has reportedly set up an inquiry commission to look into the matter and dig out the truth of what really happened and hopefully to fix responsibility. The faith that people, particularly the Nagas, have reposed on the outfit should not be allowed to erode due to any short-sightedness. If the Naga movement has managed to come to such a level today, it is in no small measure due to the far sightedness of its leaders and this is a legacy that simply cannot be allowed to be erased. The onus of fixing responsibility lies on the outfit. And remember eyes will be fixed on April 10, the date that has been given by the NSCN (IM) to submit the inquiry report.