KZC admits to Kuki ultras butchering six Naga men

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jun 25 : True to earlier allegations, the Kuki Zo Council (KZC) has admitted to the killing of six Naga civilians who were abducted from Leilon Vaiphei in Kangpokpi by Kuki-Zo groups.
Even as the KZC has admitted that the six Naga men were slaughtered by Kuki militants, the Kuki Inpi, Manipur had earlier maintained that all the abducted Naga people had been released.
Speaking to the media at Churachandpur, with a video clip of which that has since gone viral, KZC Chairman Henlianthang Thanglet, joined by Ginza Vualzong spokesperson of the KZC, said, “Yes, I agree that the Kuki-Zo has made a great mistake in killing six ‘Kacha Naga’ civilians which is made out of emotion. I really regret it.”
He acknowledged that the Kuki-Zo community had made a grave mistake and strongly criticised the killing of the Naga civilians.
Thanglet’s remarks come more than six weeks after the killings and are expected to draw widespread attention across Manipur, where the incident remains one of the most sensitive episodes in the continuing ethnic conflict.
The six Naga victims were abducted at Leilon Vaiphei Kuki village on May 13. Their highly decomposed and dismembered bodies were recovered near Kharam Vaiphei village on June 10.
The killings sparked protests, candlelight vigils and sit-in demonstrations across several districts, while civil society organisations, Churches and student bodies condemned the incident and demanded justice.
An online petition seeking an independent probe into the killings garnered more than 50,000 signatures.
Notably, the hostage crisis erupted following the killing of three Thadou Church leaders in an ambush in Kangpokpi on May 13, he recalled.
While both Naga and Kuki groups had abducted civilians following the fatal ambush, the Naga groups later released all Kuki hostages.
However, six Naga civilians who were abducted by Kuki groups were found dead just a day after the United Naga Council facilitated the safe release of 14 Kuki hostages on June 9.
Their bodies were mutilated, according to various reports.
Henlianthang, however, stated that labelling all Kuki Zo people as wicked would be wrong.
He said that the Naga–Kuki clash erupted following a drunken brawl at Litan.
Stating that many Kuki-Zo individuals were also killed amid the conflict, he reiterated that the Naga hostages were killed in a moment of heightened emotion.
He tendered an apology on behalf of his community.
Meanwhile, he highlighted the  problems being faced by Kuki Zo villages and urged the Government of India and the Government to look into the matter.
Soon after the mutilated bodies of the six Naga men were found, the United Naga Council (UNC) and several Naga organisations had raised the call to abrogate the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with Kuki armed groups, alleging that the arrangement had failed to prevent such incidents.
Following the discovery of the mutilated bodies of the six Naga men, the CoBRA unit of the CRPF swung into action and reported searched the areas from where the remains were found. The search however did not yield any substantive result prompting several Naga organisations to come out against the ‘sham operation.’
The Naga People's Organisation (NPO) had called for accountability and transparency from the CoBRA Unit of the CRPF and other security agencies involved in the military operation conducted in Leilon Vaiphei area on June 21 against the KNF-P insurgent group.