Churachandpur, June 15 -- In a rare moment of shared mourning, people across Manipur -- still reeling from ongoing ethnic unrest -- have come together to grieve the tragic loss of two young women from the state who were among the ten cabin crew members killed in the recent Air India crash in Ahmedabad.

The victims were 21-year-old Nganthoi Sharma Kongbrailatpam from Thoubal district and 28-year-old Lamnunthem Singson, a Kuki woman who had been displaced by the ethnic violence that erupted in Manipur in May 2023. She was living in the Kangpokpi district.

The tragedy has struck a deep emotional chord in a state often divided along ethnic lines. Civil society groups and residents from both the Meitei and Kuki communities have expressed sor...