The district morgue where nine bodies have been kept for over three months.

Three months ago, nine people died during unrest in a small town in northeast India. They’ve still not been buried.

Considered martyrs to the tribal cause, protestors refuse to lay the bodies to rest until their demands are met.

On Aug 31, the state assembly of Manipur passed three bills that placed restrictions on outsiders or newcomers owning land or running businesses in Manipur. The bills defined what it meant to be a member of the “Manipur people” and granted rights of residence based on this formulation.

The bills were passed after a two-months of pressure from within in a small, centrally-located and congested valley that is home to the Meiteis, who form a majority in the state. The Meiteis said incoming migration was stretching resources and demanded an Inner Line Permit system to stem the unregulated influx of migrants into the state.

But the demand for a Inner Line Permit, however, did not extend beyond the valley. To the contrary, for the various tribal communities who inhabit the hills that predominate in Manipur there were no calls for regulation; they already enjoyed stricter protections that prevented outsiders, even those from the valley, from buying land.

In the hills, a Hill Areas Committee must vet any laws that affects the districts. The Manipur state government didn’t refer the three bills for consideration to the Hill Area Committee and the hill tribes feared the Aug 31 bills will disrupt their old protections.

The hill tribes saw the bills as an attempt by the Meitei-majority state government to encroach upon tribal lands and rights. In the southern hill district of Churachandpur, the town of Lamka erupted soon after the bills were passed.

Angry protesters burnt the Zonal Education Office.

Angry over the bills passed unanimously without debate, protesters burnt the houses of local legislators who they believed had betrayed the tribal cause by not speaking up in the assembly.

Government buildings were pelted stones and set alight. Security personnel opened fire, killing six people, including an eleven-year-old boy.

Two men died after sustaining burn injuries, and another man died when he accidentally ran his bike into a road block. In Lamka, all nine dead are referred to as martyrs.

At the burnt bungalow of the state Health Minister, Phungzathang Tonsing, graffiti mentions Thanglianpao Guite, leader of the Zomi Reunification Organisation, a tribal militant outfit that has signed a suspension of operations agreement with the government. Members of local women’s organisations burnt down Guite’s house after there were rumours that he had asked the tribal MLAs to not resign.

Even though more than 14 weeks have passed since the deaths, the coffins of the nine victims haven’t gone in the ground. The community wished to keep the issue alive and requested that the martyrs not be buried until their demands were met. The victims’ families agreed.

Members of the Churachandpur Autonomous District Council have since traveled to Delhi to seek assurance that the bills wouldn’t become law.

The district morgue, which houses the nine coffins, does not have facilities to hold bodies for long periods. Air conditioners have been installed to deal with the current situation.

Everyday, outside the morgue, victims’ families are joined in prayer by community members.

Relatives of victims help unload ice slabs to place next to coffins.

A vegetable known to mitigate stench is stacked up in buckets.

A mother who lost her son consoles a woman who lost her grandson, eleven-year-old Khaijamang. He died after the police opened fire on protesters trying to storm the police station. He just happened to be there.

A church at Khaijamang’s village, Bijang.

Houses in Khaijamang’s village put up black flags.

A child returns from school, a long walk from her village. Schools had remained closed for more than a month.

A street in Lamka. Shops that would usually remain open till six in the evening started downing their shutters at two in the afternoon.

Assam Rifles personnel patrol outside the police station.

Twenty two-year-old Paulianmang was a keen footballer. He was shot when protesters took to the streets soon after the “anti-tribal” bills were passed.

Posters around town question the lethal crowd-dispersal measures used by security personnel.

A man whose 18-year-old nephew, Pausuanlian, was shot in the chest.

After the Home Ministry gave a “written assurance” that the hill people would be consulted before any decisions were taken, the Joint Action Committee, in its meeting with the tribe councils, said the burials would be held within the month of November. But various groups protested, arguing that nothing specific has been achieved yet and that the agitation must go on.

This is an edited version of an article published at scroll.in.