Parts of Manipur state in northeast India shut down after 10 people killed by security forces

GUWAHATI, India -- Ethnic organizations in parts of India’s violence-wracked northeastern state shut schools and businesses Tuesday, protesting the killings of 10 people by paramilitary soldiers.

They called for an 11-hour shutdown in the hill districts of Manipur from 5 a.m. Tuesday. Heavy gunfire was reported overnight in the periphery of the hills and the Imphal Valley.

Life was paralyzed in the area, with schools and businesses closed and people staying indoors. There were no vehicles on the road.

The Manipur state police said those killed Monday were “armed militants” and the soldiers fired at them after they attacked their post near the district town of Jiribam on Monday.

One soldier with a bullet injury was evacuated to a hospital for treatment, the police said in a statement.

However, the Tribal Leaders’ Forum said all those killed were local village volunteers belonging to the Hmar ethnic group who were patrolling the area to protect tribal villages following a recent armed attack that killed a woman.

A police statement said the paramilitary soldiers fiercely retaliated against the militants’ attack, and a heavy exchange of heavy gunfire lasted 45 minutes.

"A search of the area resulted in the recovery of 10 bodies of armed militants as well as sophisticated automatic weapons,″ the statement said.

Manipur state has been bristling with ethnic violence since May last year between the majority Meiteis and the minority Kuki-Zo ethnic group. The Meiteis, who are predominantly Hindus, live in the capital Imphal region of the state and the nearby districts, while the Kuki-Zos live in the hilly areas.

Around 250 people have been killed and 60,000 displaced since the ethnic violence started last year.

The Meiteis demand that they be listed as a Scheduled Tribe, which would bring them more benefits, such as quotas in jobs and educational institutions. That categorization would also bar non-Meiteis from buying land in the Meiteis strongholds in the Imphal Valley.

The Kukis oppose this, saying benefits like reservation are given only to tribal groups because they are considered backward economically and in the field of education. The Kukis said the Meiteis are a developed community and, therefore, should not be listed as a Scheduled Tribe.