Incident of Joupi: September 11, 1993

On the evening of September 11, 1993, the air in Joupi village was heavy with grief. Their Chief, Pu Lenpao Haokip, who had been captured days earlier, had still not returned. Whispers spread among the villagers — he was gone, taken forever. The reality sank in like a cold shadow: their leader was dead.

The elders gathered and decided to honor him the only way they could. According to the kuki custom, they buried his clothes, performing the last rites in his absence. It was a funeral without a body, yet the sorrow was no less deep.

That evening, Deacon Pu Helet Hangshing called everyone to the church. He told them to forgive one another, to cleanse their hearts, and to worship God together, for no one knew what the next day would bring. Men, women, and children filled the church, their voices trembling in prayer and song. It was a night of both tears and faith — the last time the people of Joupi would worship together in their beloved church.

With the Chief gone, Pu Semkholam Hangshing was chosen as the new chairman. But even as new leadership was named, the villagers knew the storm was far from over.

That night became etched in history as the final gathering of Joupi in peace — a moment of unity and faith before the darkness of September 12 and 13 fell upon them.

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This short booklet is a humble attempt to recount one of the darkest chapters in the history of the Kuki people — the genocide of 1993 carried out by the NSCN-IM. What began as strained relations turned into an organized campaign of terror, leaving behind a trail of massacres, uprooted villages, and shattered lives.

These pages do not merely present facts; they tell a story of human suffering, resilience, and survival. They are written to preserve memory, to honor the victims, and to remind the world that silence in the face of such atrocities is itself an act of injustice.

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~ The Kukiland India

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