Catholic bodies in Manipur organise peace rally

Our Correspondent
Imphal, August 17 (EMN): Amidst the seasonal drizzling and brief summer heat, a peace rally was held in the state capital to demand justice and burial of mortal remains of late Rita Haorei.The rally which started from Don Bosco School ground at Chingmeirong and passed through the main streets of Imphal and converged at the starting point for a gathering after submitting a memorandum to the Chief Minister of the state N Biren Singh.
The rally was held under the aegis of Catholic bodies in the state along with Joint Action Committee (JAC) for burial of late Rita Haorei’s mortal remains. 42 year old late Rita Haorei died on August 7 midnight however her body has been still lying on the campus of a Catholic Church in Litan, a village in Ukhrul district about 40 km north of here, as her mortal remain was not allowed to be buried in Leingangching village on the ground that her family had been ex-communicated and banished seven years ago for “violating the village norms” repeatedly.
However Ritah’s husband Yangmi Haorei who claimed that he was banished from the village for his conversion from Baptist to Catholic, refused to bury her anywhere else other than his native village Leingangching.
It may be mentioned that Leingangching village headman Wungreikhan Kasar in a recent media interaction had rejected the claim of Yangmi. Headman said that he (Yangmi) has no right to claim that he is a native of our village because he was excommunicated and subsequently banished for violating social rules in 2010. He also admitted that the village has nothing to do with Christian denominations as it was an internal matter of the village.
Supporting Yangmi’s claim, JAC for burial of late Ritah Haorei’s mortal remains submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister during the course of the day’s peace rally, demanding constitution of a fact finding neutral body under CM’s watch and based on the results of the fact finding administer justice accordingly.
Earlier the Catholic leaders speaking at the pre-rally gathering expressed their desire to abolish “one village, one denomination norm” as it is inhuman and violates basic fundamental rights. They also want immediate settlement of the ongoing issue.
On Wednesday Catholic congregation in Ukhrul district also staged a public rally cum public gathering for the same cause at Sacred Higher Secondary School ground Hunpung in Ukhrul district headquarters, 84 m north of here.