DIMAPUR, MAY 15 (NPN): In an extraordinary moment of grief, grace and moral courage that left thousands in tears, Haominlun Sitlhou—the only son of slain church leader Rev. Dr. V. Sitlhou—on Friday publicly forgave those responsible for his father’s brutal killing in the deadly May 13 ambush in Kangpokpi district, invoking the name of the Lord and making an impassioned call for peace amid one of the darkest chapters in the region’s recent history.
Standing before a sea of mourners at the TBA-I Campus in Motbung during the final burial ceremony of the three church leaders gunned down in the fatal ambush, Haominlun delivered a statement that pierced through sorrow and rage, choosing forgiveness over vengeance even as his father’s mortal remains lay before him.
“I forgive those who killed my father in the name of the Lord and in the larger interest of peace,” he declared, his words echoing across the packed burial ground in an emotionally charged silence broken only by sobs.
In a powerful continuation of his slain father’s lifelong spiritual mission, Haominlun said he was choosing to walk the very path Rev. Dr. V. Sitlhou had lived and died for—peace, reconciliation and faith.
With remarkable composure despite unimaginable personal loss, he made a direct and urgent appeal to major Naga civil society organisations, including the United Naga Council (UNC), Naga People’s Organisation (NPO), and Senapati District Students’ Association (SDSA), to intervene and ensure the immediate release of the remaining Kuki hostages as a humanitarian gesture and a crucial step toward restoring peace.. The burial ceremony, held under the aegis of the Thadou Baptist Association India (TBA-I) with the acknowledgement of Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), drew thousands of mourners from across the Kuki-Zo community and beyond, as people gathered with shattered hearts to bid farewell to the three church leaders whose killings have sent shockwaves across the hills.
The deaths of the three church leaders in the fatal ambush have triggered widespread outrage and mourning among the Kuki-Zo people, with the victims being remembered not merely as individuals but as spiritual pillars whose loss has left an irreplaceable void.
In choosing peace over hatred at his father’s grave, Haominlun Sitlhou did more than mourn a fallen parent, he delivered a searing moral challenge to all communities caught in conflict: that even in the face of bloodshed, peace remains possible.
The three slain Church leaders were later laid to rest at TBI-I Campus with thousands bidding a tearful farewell.
