Shafaqna India:Hundreds of Kukis staged protests in Manipur’s Churachandpur district on Saturday, 4 July, ahead of the last rites of former BJP MLA Vungzagin Valte, who died in February nearly two years after suffering critical injuries in a mob attack during the outbreak of ethnic violence in the state.
The demonstrations were triggered by chief minister Y. Khemchand Singh’s proposed visit to attend the funeral, with at least six Kuki organisations boycotting his trip and reiterating their demand for a permanent political solution to the ethnic conflict.
Markets remained shut and vehicles stayed off the roads in the district headquarters following a shutdown called by an armed group. Dozens of protesters also gathered along Tedim Road near the Kaprang area to block the route connecting Imphal and Churachandpur.
Officials said armed men fired several rounds in the air near Jalengphai, on the Churachandpur-Bishnupur border, at around 11.00 pm on Friday. No injuries were reported.
In a statement, Kuki organisations, including the Kuki Students Organisation, Kuki Inpi Churachandpur and Kuki Women Union, under the banner of the Kuki Civil Society Organisation (KCSO), said they would not allow the chief minister’s visit.
‘The KCSOs Churachandpur would like to make it clear that until and unless there is a solution to the ongoing “Kuki-Zo-Meitei conflict”, we would not allow any Meitei individual, officials or group in our district,’ the statement said.
Valte, a three-time BJP legislator from Thanlon constituency belonging to the Zomi community, was brutally assaulted by an alleged Meitei mob in Imphal’s Nagamapal area in May 2023, shortly after ethnic violence erupted between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities. He never fully recovered from the injuries and died at a private hospital in Gurugram on 20 February after his condition deteriorated.
The 61-year-old’s body was brought back from Delhi in February and has since been kept at Churachandpur District Hospital. According to a statement issued by the Zomi Council on Friday, he will be buried at a cemetery in Dorcas Veng village in Churachandpur district at around 1.30 pm on Saturday.
Valte had undergone nearly two years of treatment in Delhi before returning to Churachandpur with his wife in April last year. However, his condition worsened suddenly on 7 February, and he was flown back to the national capital by air ambulance the following day.
Sources in the community said the delay in his burial was due to the formation of the Zomi Coordination Committee (ZCC), which was tasked with pursuing justice and accountability in the case while engaging with the Centre, the state government and other authorities.
The ZCC recently decided to hand over Valte’s mortal remains to his family to enable the funeral to take place.
Among its key demands are a time-bound probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the attack that eventually led to Valte’s death, and the grant of Union Territory status with a legislature for the Kuki-Zo-majority areas of Manipur.
Valte had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, arguing for a separate administrative arrangement for the Kuki-Zo community.
More than 260 people have been killed and thousands displaced since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur in May 2023 between the valley-based Meiteis and the hill-based Kuki-Zo communities.
Following continued clashes and the resignation of chief minister N. Biren Singh, the state was placed under President’s Rule on 13 February 2025, which was lifted on 4 February this year.
