Crippled in mob attack, Kuki BJP MLA from Manipur admitted to Delhi hospital
The Hindu
Joseph said his father is like a child now and has to be taught to talk and walk again
Vungzagin Valte (61) can barely move without assistance. His voice is gone. The third-time legislator belonging to the Kuki community, who is also an adviser to Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on tribal affairs, is among the first victims of the Kuki-Meitei ethnic violence that has claimed over 100 lives in the northeastern State since May 3.
As Mr. Valte, a BJP MLA from the Thanlon constituency in Manipur, battles a skull injury in a private hospital in Delhi for the past one month, his son Joseph Valte said till now no one from the party had either visited or called them.
Joseph said his father is like a child now and has to be taught to talk and walk again due to the injuries he suffered after a mob assaulted him on May 4. His face was damaged and doctors inserted a platinum plate to fix his jaw.
Recalling the incident, Joseph said he last spoke to his father on the morning of May 4 when the latter was leaving from the Chief Minister’s Office after attending a meeting. A day ago, ethnic violence had started spreading in the State, post a tribal solidarity march in Churachandpur and other hill areas. The violence that has continued since has already displaced over 35,000 people.
“After meeting the Chief Minister, he called to say that he was coming with a government order. That was the last I heard from him, I still do not know what that order was as he has not been able to speak after that,” said Joseph (29), who assists his father in legislative work.
He said after he left the secretariat for his official residence at Lamphelpat, his father’s official car was stopped by a group of people who were wearing black clothes. He and his driver, Thanghoulal, also a Kuki, were taken to a community centre nearby. The Personal Security Officer (PSO), Elangbam Mapu, a Meitei, was spared and was asked to run for his safety.
“He was first stunned by a Taser gun and then repeatedly hit on the skull by a sharp object. Had it been a mob, he would have had injuries on other parts of his body. It was a targeted attack, we believe he and his driver were tortured for hours before being left for dead,” Joseph said.