Days after the horrific video of two women paraded naked in Manipur going viral, another video is being circulated widely on social media. In the 3-minute-long clip, a group of people are seen marching in uniforms. A few people holding posters can also be seen standing in front of a ‘Wall of Remembrance’. The posters read, “Enough With Meitei Mob Rule if the central government is incapable to institute peace. Meitei fascism is not curtailed”. The marching women are holding a poster on which is written ‘We are ready to sacrifice our lives’. In the video, a coffin has been placed in a line in front of which people are standing and clapping. The video is being shared with the claim that this was a march by the Kuki people calling for the massacre of Meiteis. The video also contains subtitles which read as follows:
00:37 – Meiteis leave, 00:49 – If any Meitei is spotted, his head will be blown off, 00:54 – Got it? Got it?, 1:09 – SONG: This land belongs to the Kukis, Kukis will stay here!, 1:14 – SONG: Listen carefully, Meiteis! We Will Make You Cry Tears of Blood!, 1:17 – Kill the Maitais! Kill the Meteis! Beat the Meteis!, 1:23 – Crowd: Hit them! Beat them! Hit them!, 1:28 – We need not fear, we have support from Burma and Christian states. We will continue our movement. The Indian army will do nothing. 1:51 – Leave three lines for the marching soldiers, 2:13 – Zomi Revolutionary Army soldiers march, 2:57 – Get ready, Meitis, we are going to behead you!, 3:05 – We will take your girls as mistresses and your children as slaves!
Right-Wing influencer Bala made the same claim while sharing the video in a now-deleted post. (Archived link)
Abhay Pratap Singh of Sudarshan News also tweeted this video, writing, “This video from Manipur is very scary. Genocide calls towards the Meitei people are being raised openly.” (Archived link)
A user named Sunanda Roy amplified the clip with the same claim. (Archived link)
Similarly, a number of other users also promoted the visuals with this claim.
Fact-check
The words ‘Wall of Remembrance’ can be spotted in one frame of the video. Alt News performed a related keyword search, and found a longer video uploaded by a YouTube channel named ‘HORNBILL DIGITAL CABLE’ on July 5. Its title reads, “Youth Protest against Fascist Rule in Manipur”. In this hour long video, scenes from the viral video appear between the 26:50 mark and 30:06 mark.
East Mojo had also covered this protest on July 5. According to reports, hundreds of locals took to the streets in Churachandpur to protest against the brutal killing of a tribal youth named David Thiek in Langza village. The rally was organised amid efforts by the Army to destroy bunkers set up by locals in different parts of the state. The rally was led by Village Defense volunteers. Many of them were in black uniforms and bullet-proof jackets, and it concluded at the Wall of Remembrance. At least 2,000 Village Defense volunteers were part of the rally. The locals present at the demonstration paid their respects at the symbolic coffins placed in the memory of those who lost their lives. The protesters sang mournful songs in memory of the dead, while raising slogans and demanding the intervention of the central government to resolve the deadly conflict.
The Times of India and India Today North East also coveted the rally held in Churachandpur on July 5.
To gather more information related to this video, we reached out to a local resident of Manipur, who understands this language. He sent us a transcript of the video with timestamps, which is given below:
00:38 (Paite): amka Tuailaite (2 times)
Translation: Youths of Lamka (crowd cheering)
00:50 (Paite): Hongpai khawmnal unla (2 times)
Translation: Come closer (The speaker signals the youth to come closer towards the stage)
00:53 (Paite): Huaizah chiang in ahi panding ahi
Translation: And then we will begin (the speaker says, as an indication to start the program)
00:55 (Paite): Hon Pitou Lal unla’ n (repeating it a couple of times)
Translation: Keep coming forward (addressing the crowd)
01:23 Crowd(In Paite): Hat Un. Hang Un
Translation: be strong, be brave
01:28 (Paite): Vest silhtengteng in ah hankuangtemalah ki line dinginahiki theihsakahi.
Translation: Anyone wearing a vest is requested to please come forward and line up in front of the coffins (the coffins were placed to depict the dead who lost their lives during the conflict)
01:33 (Paite): Vest silhloukhaloumipite stage lam hon phatouun
Translation: Those of you without vests, please come towards the stage
01:40 (Paite): Vest silh kha tangval te hankuang lam ah hon ki line unla, adanften, hiailam ah hon pha you un
Translation: All the men wearing vests, please line up in front of the casket. Those of you without vests, please come this way.
01:52 (Paite): Vest silh te 3 lines. Adangtehuaibang inah linekhat hiailam, line khatin huailamah.
Translation: People wearing vests in three rows. Similarly, for those without vests, one line is on this side and the other line is on that side.
02:10 (Paite): 3 lines in ah
Translation: (As addressed earlier, the speaker was instructing the crowd to stay in three lines.)
02:57 (Paite): Hon paitou lal vuau
Translation: Please keep coming forward (This is because the youth have reached and are coming towards the venue)
02:58 (Paite): Ipasalte kon vaidawnna un kon sawm uhee…
Translation: To the men, we invite you to ours with a warm welcome,
03:05 (Paite): Tuinnah programipan ding wa, Pithu Thianmang muangin chih laa is a phawt ding wa. Unanu Mangnunmawi kagenahi.
Translation: Let us now begin our program with the song ‘Pithu Thianmangmuangin’ (Trust in the Lord who leads us) by our sister Manganunmawi (singer).
To sum it up, several social media users shared the video of Kuki community members marching in Manipur with false subtitles, claiming that the people in the video were chanting slogans calling for the genocide of the Meitei community and making objectionable statements.
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