August 2016: At the Hiangtam Lamka EBCC Church, people gathered to pray on a Sunday, in the run up to Tribal Unity Day, in Churachandpur, Manipur.
August 2016: At the Hiangtam Lamka EBCC Church, people listen to a sermon delivered by a pastor on a Sunday, in the run up to Tribal Unity Day, in Churachandpur, Manipur.
August 2016: At the Hiangtam Lamka EBCC Church, people gathered to pray for the nine dead whose bodies have now been at a ramshackle morgue, a year since they were shot down, in the run up to Tribal Unity Day, in Churachandpur, Manipur.
August 2016: Women prayed on a Sunday, in the run-up to Tribal Unity Day, in Churachandpur, Manipur. Thousands thronged to churches all over town as the anniversary of the police action against protesters neared.
August 2016: People leave a church in Bungmual, a small hilltop locality after prayers on a Sunday, in the run up to Tribal Unity Day, in Churachandpur, Manipur.
August 2016: People leave a church in Bungmual, a small hilltop locality after prayers on a Sunday, in the run-up to Tribal Unity Day, in Churachandpur, Manipur.
August 2016: The decaying walls of the Police station in Churachandpur, Manipur.
August 2016: The decaying walls of the Police station in Churachandpur, Manipur plastered with slogans talking of the deep-rooted, hill and valley divide as it's commonly referred to here.
August 2016: CorCom is an umbrella group in Manipur that includes the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), its Progressive faction (PREPAK-Pro), Revolutionary People's Front (RPF – the political wing of the People’s Liberation Army – PLA), United National Liberation Front (UNLF). Also popularly referred to as the Underground or UGs, the above groups are also commonly referred to as VBIGs or Valley-based Insurgent groups.
August 2016: Volunteers of the Joint Action Committee formed after the August 31-September 1, 2015 incident enforce a shutdown in Lamka town, Churachandpur district, Manipur.
August 2016: Volunteers of the Joint Action Committee formed after the August 31-September 1, 2015 incident gathered at Pumbuk where a memorial for the dead has stood for a year in Lamka town, Churachandpur district, Manipur.
August 2016: Volunteers of the Joint Action Committee formed after the August 31-September 1, 2015 patrolled the empty streets in pick up trucks in Lamka town, Churachandpur district, Manipur.
August 2016: Paulianmang was only 23 when he died during Police action a year back in Manipur's Lamka town, hardly an hour's drive from the capital of Imphal. His body remains unburied, in a morgue as a town protests three land bills passed by the state legislature on August 31, 2015.
August 2016: Volunteers transport insignia of nine young men who died during Police action a year back in Manipur's Lamka town as the one year anniversary of the incident neared. The bodies have since remained unburied, in a morgue, as a town continues to protest three land bills passed by the state legislature on August 31, 2015.
August 2016: Volunteers transport insignia of nine young men who died during Police action a year back in Manipur's Lamka town as the one year anniversary of the incident neared. The bodies have since remained unburied, in a morgue, as a town continues to protest three land bills passed by the state legislature on August 31, 2015.
August 2016: Rubber tyres burned day and night at various street intersections as the town's population enforced a shutdown for a week in late August.
August 2016: Streets remained empty till 12pm everyday as the town's population enforced a shutdown for a week in late August.
August 2016: Women arrived on board a pickup truck to be part of a silent march through town.
August 2016: Thousands of women marched in silence to protest the police brutality and the passage of three land bills a year back. The dead have remained un-buried for more than a year now.
August 2016: Thousands of women marched in silence to protest the police brutality and the passage of three land bills a year back. The dead have remained un-buried for more than a year now.
August 2016: At Pumbuk, where a memorial for the dead stands in Churachandpur, thousands of women prayed, led by a pastor after a long silent march through town.
August 2016: At Pumbuk, where a memorial for the dead stands in Churachandpur, thousands of women prayed, led by a pastor after a long silent march through town.
August 2016: At Pumbuk, where a memorial for the dead stands in Churachandpur, thousands of women left after a long march and prayers to prepare for the coming evening's protests.
August 2016: A can of red spray paint can be powerful weapon in Churachandpur. On the evening of August 29, young volunteers dressed in black, their faces covered by black cloth, some just in their teens went about town in open pickup trucks, stopping at locations to spray paint, red fallen figures of the dead onto the street mobilising the the locals in the process, who gathered and prayed around and lit candles on and around the figures.
August 2016: Dark shadows criss-cross the streets of Lamka as on the evening of August 29, young volunteers dressed in black, their faces covered by black cloth, some just in their teens went about town in open pickup trucks, stopping at various locations around town where the nine young men were shot down a year ago, to spray paint, red fallen figures of the dead onto the street mobilising the the locals in the process, who gathered and prayed around and lit candles on and around the figures.
August 2016: A freshly spray painted, fallen figure of the dead, one of the nine that volunteers painted on the streets of Lamka on the night of August 29.
August 2016: Security personnel guard the Churachanpur police station. Outside, volunteers sit atop one of the many pickups they used to mobilise support and organise a programme right outside the station.
August 2016: Security personnel guard the Churachanpur police station. Outside, volunteers stand next to one of the many pickups they used to mobilise support and organise a programme right outside the station.
August 2016: Pastor Benson Khuptong, lights a candle in support of the ongoing movement in Churachandpur, Manipur. He later delivered a sermon on the night of August 29, outside the police station where four of the nine who were shot dead during protest had fallen.
August 2016: Volunteers guard the site of an evening programme, while policemen glare from the gates of the Churachandpur Police station during a programme the volunteers organised to remember the nine young men shot dead a year earlier. Four of them had been shot exactly in front of the police station.
August 2016: Locals gathered outside the Churachandpur Police station, for an evening programme organised to remember the nine young men shot dead a year earlier. Four of them had been shot exactly in front of the station.
August 2016: In his address outside the Churachandpur Police Station on the evening of August 29, Pastor Khuptong spoke to a large group of locals that had gathered, he said, “Today as we smell the blood of the martyrs that is carried by this wind, I pray that God continues to carry the smell of this blood across the hills and the valleys and the mountains, so that we will have unity, brotherhood and forgiveness. Woes to those, he said, who make a game on the blood of the martyrs, who betray our people, who with their deceit, make a woman a widow, a father without a son and parents without hope.”
August 2016: Outside the Churachandpur Police station, protestors painted figures of the fallen in red with spray paint, lit candles and offered prayers.
August 2016: Candles burn around a temporary memorial for the dead in Churachandpur, Manipur.
August 2016: Volunteers patrolled the streets relentlessly day and night to enforce a shutdown and keep the peace as tensions grew.
August 2016: Volunteers patrolled the streets relentlessly day and night to enforce a shutdown and keep the peace as tensions grew.
August 2016: Protestors arrived at Churachandpur College from around the district for a Mass rally on August 30.
August 2016: Dressed in balck and faces covered in black and red paint, protestors arrived at Churachandpur College from around the district for a Mass rally on August 30.
August 2016: Dressed in black protesters have their faces painted at Churachandpur College before a Mass rally on August 30.
August 2016: Women have been at the forefront of protests that started a year back, often keeping the peace in an extremely volatile situation.
August 2016: Dressed in black and faces covered in black and red paint, protestors arrived at Churachandpur College from around the district for a Mass rally on August 30.
August 2016: Dressed in black protesters have their faces painted at Churachandpur College before a Mass rally on August 30.
August 2016: Dark clouds gathered as protesters marched through the hills of Churachandpur, chanting slogans.
August 2016: Thousands of protesters marched through the hills of Churachandpur to the sounds of traditional tribal gongs, chanting slogans.
August 2016: Robert V. Zamminthang, one of the nine protesters who was shot in the head by the police in Churachandpur a year back, was a theology student, perhaps the reason why the first line of protesters were Grace Bible College students who led a march of more than 10,000 people in Churachandpur to Pumbuk, where a memorial honouring the dead has stood for a year.
August 2016: Thousands of protesters marched through the hills of Churachandpur to the sounds of traditional tribal drums and gongs, chanting slogans.
August 2016: A group of theology students formed the front of the marching contingent.
August 2016: Cries of “Ibobi down down” and “Fuck you Ibobi” and “Sakthu (Meitei for Fuck you) Ibobi” rang out as a large crowd marched through the town of Lamka in Manipur’s Churachandpur district. They were protesting against the chief minister of the state, Okram Ibobi Singh for pushing through three bills under pressure from the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System, an umbrella organisation of 30 civil bodies in Manipur.
August 2016: The protestors covered a distance of ten kilometres from Churachandpur College grounds to a memorial built for those that had died in 2015, walking over four hours through the gently sloping hills of pastoral Churachandpur.
August 2016: A student raises his fist as the march stops to pay tribute at a location where Robert V Zamminthang died last year. The protesters stopped at all the places where the nine who died last year had fallen.
August 2016: Young women lead the march of thousands through the town of Lamka.
August 2016: Onlookers gathered as the march snaked through Lamka.
August 2016: Volunteers escorted the protesters as they neared the Churachandpur Police station where four of the nine had been killed last year.
August 2016: Volunteers escorted the protesters as they neared the Churachandpur Police station where four of the nine had been killed last year.
August 31: As thousands of protesters marched down Tedim Road that snakes through the town of Lamka, towards the police station, a large contingent of heavily armed police contingent waited outside the police station anticipating trouble, the air was tense and the protesters angry.
August 2016: On the evening of August 30, thousands again gathered at Pumbuk where a memorial honouring the dead has stood for over a year, to listen to local leaders and Pastors.
August 2016: On the evening of August 30, thousands again gathered at Pumbuk where a memorial honouring the dead has stood for over a year, to listen to local leaders and Pastors.
August 2016: Women gathered at Pumbuk where a memorial honouring the dead has stood for over a year on August 30 for a candle light vigil.
August 2016: On August 30 after the candle light vigil, a large gathering set afloat flying lanterns.
August 2016: On August 30 after the candle light vigil, a large gathering set afloat flying lanterns.
August 2016: Thousands again marched on the evening of August 30, this time with lit torches to their respective homes.
August 2016: Young protesters board an open pickup truck with lit torches as they headed home on the evening of August 30.
August 2016: At the district hospital in Churachandpur, where the bodies of nine young men have rotted for a year in a ramshackle morgue, thousands gathered to pay their respect on August 31.
August 2016: Flowers for the dead at the district hospital in Churachandpur, where the bodies of nine young men have rotted for a year in a ramshackle morgue as thousands gathered to pay their respect on August 31.
August 2016: Thousands march from the district hospital in Churachandpur to the adjacent city college to mark "Tribal Unity Day" , a year from when nine young men died in police action and tribal communities from the hill districts of Manipur came together for the first time in protest.
August 2016: Umbrellas glisten in the noon-time sun as thousands gathered to listen to their leaders at the Churachandpur college to mark "Tribal Unity Day" on August 31 , a year from when nine young men died in police action and tribal communities from the hill districts of Manipur came together for the first time in protest.
August 2016: Thousands listen to their leaders at the Churachandpur college to mark "Tribal Unity Day" on August 31 , a year from when nine young men died in police action and tribal communities from the hill districts of Manipur came together for the first time in protest.
August 2016: Thousands listen to their leaders at the Churachandpur college to mark "Tribal Unity Day" on August 31 , a year from when nine young men died in police action and tribal communities from the hill districts of Manipur came together for the first time in protest.
September 2016: At Pearsonmun, a little village in Churachandpur, families of the dead prayed.
September 2016: At Pearsonmun, a little village in Churachandpur, a pastor prayed for the families of the dead.
September 2016: At Pearsonmun, a little village in Churachandpur, a pastor prayed for the families of the dead.
September 2016: At Pearsonmun, in Churachandpur, prayers for the dead and a minute's silence to observe a year since nine young men died in Police action. The folks of Churachandpur have stuck to their demands for over a year, and as a result the dead haven't been buried and a town has remained in a state of limbo refusing to move on.
September 2016: At Pearsonmun, in Churachandpur, village folk observe a minute's silence to observe a year since nine young men died in Police action. The folks of Churachandpur have stuck to their demands for over a year, and as a result, the dead haven't been buried and a town has remained in a state of limbo refusing to move on.