How ambush of church leaders on a forested road escalated Naga-Kuki conflict across Manipur hills

On May 4, three months after the first clashes broke out between Kukis and Nagas in Manipur, church leaders from both communities met in Nagaland to find a way to end hostilities.

At the meeting in Kohima was Reverend Vumthang Sitlhou, a Baptist pastor from Kangpopki district held in deep regard by both communities.

Vevo Phesao, the vice president of the Nagaland Joint Christian Forum that had organised the meeting, recalled that Sitlhou, who represented the Kukis, spoke of the bonds of Christianity and education between the Tangkhul Naga tribe and Kukis.

Sitlhou’s son, Haominlun, told Scroll that the leaders proposed “a ceasefire” of two months. Phesao said the meeting ended on a hopeful note, but no official agreement was signed.

Haominlun, however, said: “Even on the day of the Kohima meeting, there were firings in the hills.”

Nine days later, Sitlhou was dead – shot by armed men in his vehicle while he was returning from a meeting of church leaders. Two church leaders who had attended the Kohima meeting and were travelling with him – Reverend Kaigoulun Lhouvum and Pastor Paogoulen Sitlhou – were also killed in the ambush.

Sitlhou’s family members said they suspect this was a “targeted killing”, as he had been working towards reconciliation. A leading Kuki...

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