Black Day solemnly observed at Sadar Hills
Source: The Sangai Express
Kangpokpi, September 13 2014 :
The Kuki Black Day or Sahnit Ni was observed in Sadar Hills to mark the deaths of Kuki people killed during the ethnic clash which broke out in the 1990s.People clad in black abstained from daily activities.
Black flags were hoisted in every household and put up on all the vehicles passing along the highway.
Every Church held a mass prayer for the victims' families while some families observed a fast in obeisance to the departed souls.
Many people particularly women gathered at the memorial sites where a monument was erected last year in front of Inspection Bungalow, Kangpokpi and paid homage to the victims.
Kuki Inpi Sadar Hills General Secretary N Sehjalien Gangte lamented that on September 13 in 1993 more than 100 innocent Kukis were mercilessly killed in the NSCN (IM) ethnic cleansing in Manipur and it remains the highest number of Kukis killed in a single day.
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Asserting that the Kukis are peace loving people, the Kuki Inpi Sadar Hills General Secretary said that the observance was not against anyone but to commemorate and mourn the victims and also to pressure the Government to take up specific measures to deliver justice to all the victims as well as compensate and resettle the displaced Kuki villagers.
A candle light service was also held at the Memorial Site later in the evening under the leadership of Kangpokpi Town Churches Fellowship where a mass prayer was organized.
The Kuki Black Day was also observed at Gelnal along the Imphal-Tamenglong road in the presence of Kuki Inpi Sadar Hills president Seikhomang Khongsai.
The Kuki Inpi Sadar Hills president said that the function was organized to restore peace, unity and integrity among different communities of Manipur, particularly between Nagas and Kukis.
While urging other communities not to interpret the observation in the wrong sense, the KISH supremo prayed that such painful, ugly incident does not recur in the future.
The Black Day was also observed at Laikot.
Meanwhile, Kangpokpi Town Committee Secretary Haokholun Chongloi said that the term Kuki-Naga ethnic clash used by some people is wrong and added that it was a coordinated attack on the innocent Kukis, including small children and women by the NSCN (IM) .