Families of missing persons hope against hope
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, May 02 2024: Families of 31 Meiteis who have gone missing during the course of the violence in Manipur have appealed to the Central and Manipur Governments as well as the Kuki community to facilitate the return of 'their loved one if they are alive or hand over their bodies if they are dead' .

They made the appeal during a programme at New Delhi jointly coordinated by Delhi Meitei Coordinating Committee, Global Meitei Federation, Karnataka Meitei Association, Meitei Yaipha Lup, Meitei Alliance, Meitei Diaspora in America, Meitei Heritage Society, NUPI, Souls Offered Unitedly for a Lustrated Society (SOULS) and World Meetei Council.

Families of missing persons hope against hope

"To ameliorate the sufferings of the families, tracing the remains or whereabouts of the missing persons is a must.

This allows them to perform the last rites, bringing closure to the missing incidents and enabling the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

Furthermore, if the bodies are untraceable, there is an immediate requirement for the authorities concerned to declare the missing persons as untraceable and issue certificates accordingly," said RK Bijyalakshmi, president of SOULS.

Atom Kavita, 47 years wife of Atom Samarendra, a journalist missing since May 6, 2023, along with Yumkhaibam Kiran Kumar, said "My husband was among the first persons to have gone missing.

I have performed the last rites as per our tradition by using Pangong tree in place of his body.

However, the bitter truth is there is no closure and I can't find peace.

Deep in the corner of my heart, I still believe my husband is alive somewhere and I still long for his return because he had helped the Kukis during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Kuki villagers have deep respect and love for him.

I can't believe they would kill a person who helped them" .

Ningthoujam Premlata (47), mother of Ningthoujam Anthony (19) who went missing on November 5 said it breaks her heart to think how her son might have been tortured before he was killed in cold blood.

She continued that her son is not a village volunteer nor a security personnel but entered an unsafe area unknowingly during a joyride.

The mother said that she always takes her mobile phone with her hoping against hope that her son would call her.