DM Monitoring
New Delhi: Four Meitei Pangals (Meitei Muslims) were killed on Monday (January 1) in Manipur’s Thoubal district. The deceased have been identified as Mohammed Sirajuddin, Hussain, Azad Khan and Daulat.
Sources say Pangal groups are under pressure not to speak any further. However, a Pangal individual who prefers not to be identified told The Wire that people in police uniforms had “killed our people.”
Meitei Pangals, also known as Meitei Muslims, are a subgroup of the Meitei people, the majority ethnic group in Manipur. Meitei Pangals share cultural and historic ties with other Meiteis but follow the Islamic faith.
The incident occurred at around 7:30 pm on Monday, when around 20 to 30 individuals in police uniforms entered a Pangal house in the Lilong Chingjao area of Thoubal district, looting cash and gold worth Rs 2 lakh.
Locals tried to intervene, following which the individuals in police uniforms fired at the Pangal residents, leading to four deaths and over 14 injuries.
The injured are currently being treated in a hospital in Imphal.
Earlier today, a group of Meitei Pangals met in Manipur and passed a resolution urging the government to arrest all culprits within 48 hours.
They have also requested the Manipur government to hand over the case to the National Investigation Agency, India’s anti-terrorism agency.
Additionally, a Pangal group has formed a joint action committee to the assist victims of the January 1 incident, with Maulana Habibullah Sheikh appointed as the committee’s head.
This is not the first tragedy reported involving the Pangal community. In October, Sangomsumpham Sahir, also known as Sana, was allegedly lynched on accusations of transporting goods for the Kuki people.
Since the ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities broke out in Manipur in May, Kukis cannot enter the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley and the Meiteis likewise cannot enter the state’s Kuki-dominated hill areas.
However, the Meitei Pangals have historically acted as a link connecting both communities.
Presently, the Pangals are hesitant to speak on record about the violence affecting their community.
The Manipur police issued a press note on Monday discussing search operations in the Thoubal areal but did not mention the death of the four Pangals.
A curfew has been imposed in Thoubal district.
Maulana Mahmood Asa’d Madani, president of the Jamat Ulama-i-Hind, has written a letter to Union home minister Amit Shah and Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh, urging decisive action against the perpetrators of this heinous crime.
Maulana Madani stressed the government’s paramount responsibility to safeguard the lives and property of all citizens, calling for a high-level judicial inquiry into the incident’s background, including allegations of attempted extortion.
In the letter, Maulana Madani also appealed for reasonable compensation to be provided to the families of the deceased and comprehensive medical assistance for the injured.
He has instructed state Jamiat leaders to actively participate in efforts to establish peace in the affected areas.
It is noteworthy that this incident is not the first time that communities other than Meiteis or Kukis were targeted in the state.
In June of last year, Imphal’s archbishop, Dominic Lumon, claimed that 249 churches belonging to Meitei Christians were destroyed within 36 hours of the state’s ethnic conflict breaking out.
Meanwhile, both Meitei and Kuki groups have confirmed to The Wire that the situation in Moreh, a town at Manipur’s border with Myanmar, has been deteriorating since December 30, with firing ongoing in the surrounding region.
