As Vungzagin Valte breathed his last on February 21 this year at a Delhi hospital after succumbing to his injuries, emotions ran high. There was an outpouring of grief and a deep sense of anger among the Kuki, Zomi and kindred tribes across Manipur and other parts of the country.
Among the many expressions and messages, one post on X by a young woman, Chingthianhoih, stood out.
She wrote, “On 4th May, many of us fled to your residence seeking shelter. Your compound was crowded. As our Church and houses began to be torched, you were so worried for us, your people, that you sent back all your security guards from your meeting to protect us. Then, you came back alone with no security and had to face the mob. Thank you, PaGin. Respect.”
Valte was the sitting BJP MLA of Thanlon Assembly constituency in Churachandpur district of Manipur and a three-time legislator. He was left to die on the streets of Imphal on May 4, 2023, after being attacked by a mob while on his way home.
He was returning from a meeting with the Chief Minister on the law and order situation after violence erupted the previous evening between the Meitei and the Kuki, Zomi and their kindred tribes.
The Thanlon MLA was airlifted to Delhi. His driver, Thangoulal, succumbed to his injuries two days later.
A prominent Zomi leader, Vungzagin Valte’s passing has left a deep void. The nature of his death remains unacceptable to many in the community. While at least a hundred Kuki and Zomi individuals died in the violence, Valte’s killing as a sitting MLA has been particularly difficult for the community to come to terms with.
Given his position, his family and members of the Kuki and Zomi communities insisted that his body be brought from Delhi to Aizawl and then taken “on road” to Lamka. Even the state Chief Minister’s offer to airlift the body home via Imphal was declined.
Following appeals from civil society organisations, village chiefs and the BJP’s Churachandpur district unit, Valte’s mortal remains were flown from Delhi to Aizawl and then taken to Lamka by road, passing through over 20 villages in his constituency. A motorcade accompanied the body, with each village paying its respects and holding condolence meetings.
Since the May 2023 crisis, the Lamka–Aizawl road has become a crucial lifeline for the Kuki, Zomi and related communities, serving as a key connection to the outside world.
This stretch of National Highway 102B (NH-102B), commonly known as the Guite Road, has gained both practical and symbolic significance. Another key route is the Kangpokpi–Dimapur road along NH-2.
For the Zomi and Kuki communities, the Guite Road represents not just physical connectivity between Manipur and Mizoram but also a deeper political and emotional link. Its importance has only grown during the ongoing crisis, as many fled to Mizoram via this route in the aftermath of the 2023 violence.
Even now, many avoid using Imphal airport, despite government arrangements such as helicopter services from Lamka to Imphal.
Bringing Valte’s remains along this route was therefore both symbolic and political, underscoring long-standing ties among the Zo people—often referred to as the Zomi-Kuki-Mizo or Chin-Kuki-Mizo communities—whose connections span across state and national boundaries.
As Valte’s remains reached Lamka, leaders and members of the Zomi community expressed their inability to accept that a leader who was brutally attacked should be buried without justice.
His death has reignited grief and anger. As a people’s representative, his killing in a mob attack has not been taken lightly. Even as the family mourns, his son, Gousuan Valte, has publicly stated that his father’s remains belong to the people he represented.
The Zomi Council, the community’s apex political body, has been entrusted with overall responsibility for decisions regarding the final rites. Since then, Valte’s body has been kept in a hospital morgue as a symbolic protest, demanding justice for him and for the wider Zomi, Kuki and kindred communities.
Speaking to EastMojo over the phone, Gousuan Valte said that decisions regarding his father now lie with the Zomi Coordinating Committee (ZCC), formed under the leadership of the Zomi Council following Valte’s death.
“He was a people’s representative in life and in death; let the people decide. My father does not belong to us, his family alone, but to the people he represented,” he said, in a subdued voice.
He added that the family continues to hold on to hope. “At present, it is difficult to comment on the situation. We are carrying on with hope—hope that we will get justice for my father,” said Gousuan, who has taken on the responsibility of managing both family matters and constituency affairs.
He noted that development work in Thanlon constituency has come to a standstill since the Manipur crisis, further compounded by the attack on Valte, which left him severely paralysed until his death.
“There is much of my father’s unfinished work that we need to take forward,” he said.
According to the family, no formal case appears to have been registered in connection with the attack. “No case was registered. We did file an FIR at Lamphel Police Station in Imphal West,” Gousuan said. However, the status of the FIR remains unclear, and the family is currently in no position to pursue the matter further.
The Zomi Coordinating Committee is now pushing for the case to be taken up by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). “We are praying and hoping that at least the NIA takes up the case,” he said.
Vungzagin Valte’s mortal remains continue to await final rites, as the community and its apex bodies deliberate on the next steps. In the meantime, symbolic protests—including candlelight vigils and district-wide shutdowns—are being held in his honour and in demand for justice.
There is a growing call for both the state and the Centre to ensure accountability, so that Valte receives justice and a dignified burial, and so that the people he represented can find some measure of closure.
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