Dozens of unclaimed bodies show that an Indian conflict still exists

From the start of the ethnic conflict that turned a state in India’s northeast into a war zone, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government tried to shift the focus of the disaster.

His lieutenants trumpeted one peace agreement with insurgents, although this was not related to the ethnic violence. The government resumed development projects as a sign of a return to ‘normality’. And a sympathetic message media kept his eyes focused elsewhere.

But in hospital mortuaries in Manipur state there is undeniable evidence that the conflict has yet to be resolved. Dozens of bodies remain unclaimed six months after the fighting started, not because it is unrecognizable, but partly because the security situation in the region is still too unstable.

“They can kill us,” said Kimi, a mother of three whose husband, she said, was killed by a gang from another ethnic group on May 4 in Imphal, the state capital. Like many Indians, she uses one name.

This week, India’s Supreme Court intervened and ordered officials to ensure a dignified burial for the dead. The report said this could ease tensions as one group has accused the other of not claiming bodies for political reasons. The country’s Chief Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud said the court would not allow the remains to remain in mortuaries indefinitely and “let the pot boil over the dead bodies.”

When open war broke out in Manipur in May, it was an uncomfortable development for a government that has cultivated an image of India as a rising world power. About 200 people have been killed in a state with fewer than three million people, and more than 60,000 are now in squalid refugee camps.

Bloodshed has largely subsided, but sporadic incidents of violence continue to occur, effectively dividing the state between two ethnic groups: the predominantly Hindu Meiteis, who form a slim majority, and members of Christian hill tribes known as Kukis. According to Indian media reports, two Kukis were killed by Meitei insurgents last week.

The unprecedented violence, including widespread allegations of sexual assault, began after a dispute over who should have the right to claim special tribal status from the government that grants privileges such as land ownership. Since then it has turned into an increasing demand for a separate state by Kuki leaders.

The majority of those killed were Kukis, although large numbers of Meiteis were also killed. Health officials said the unclaimed bodies were largely those of Kukis.

Since the beginning, Mr. Modi has said virtually nothing about the conflict, following the familiar playbook of staying on top of things when the news turns unfavorable.

For centuries, tribal leaders in India’s northeastern region, with its patchwork of different ethnic groups, have kept invaders, kings and colonists at bay. But they have also fought among themselves for control of land and its natural resources.

Since India’s independence from Britain, federal governments have sought to integrate the region’s people into the mainstream. The result is a conflict over scarce resources and economic opportunities. Amid decades of fighting, India’s armed forces have amassed extraordinary strength to quell ethnic insurgencies there.

In recent years, the Indian government has accelerated the pace of development by undertaking large-scale infrastructure projects, including an extensive road network.

Leaders of the Kuki tribes are demanding a mass burial at a site adjacent to a Meitei village and the erection of a monument to honor the dead. That demand was rejected by officials from both the state and federal governments, according to Kuki leaders. Both governments are led by Mr Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

Khuraijam Athouba, a spokesperson for a Meitei group, accused Kukis of playing politics over the bodies.

“They have wanted to use dead bodies as a symbol of enmity between the Kukis and Meiteis for generations,” he said in a telephone interview with Imphal.

Last week, a committee of former judges formed by the Supreme Court advised the regional government to publish a list of the dead. If no one comes forward to claim them, the panel said, authorities should dispose of the bodies. The state government has identified nine cemeteries.

The commission reported that 88 bodies remain unclaimed Live the lawan Indian news website that reports on legal proceedings.

To transport the bodies from Meitei-majority areas, Kukis says their safety is guaranteed as they travel from their homes to hospitals.

Jamngaihkim Gangte, 20, said she had failed to recover the bodies of her mother, who was a senior official in the Manipur government, and her brother, both of whom were killed by Meitei gangs on May 4.

Ginza Vuslzong, a leader of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum, a Kuki group, dismissed Meiteis’ claims that Kukis were pressured not to claim bodies for political reasons.

“Who doesn’t want the dead bodies to be given a proper burial?” he said. “But you can’t just take away my right to choose the place of the funeral.”