BENGALURU: A young woman pregnant with twins recalled how she ran away into the hills to flee a raving armed mob of killers on a shooting spree. She trekked across forests and mountains for four days, hungry and tired, to reach safety. Another woman recalled how her family members had vanished, and are presumed dead.
Others recalled the horror of violence unleashed against them, at a series of sessions to deal with their grief and pain, memories of rape, death and mindless destruction in Manipur, at a mental health camp. Krithika Tharan, a mental health professional from Bengaluru, has reached Manipur to set up these camps.
“When Chennai was flooded, or when the tsunami hit parts of India, or an earthquake struck Gujarat and Maharashtra, people from across the nation rushed to help, but why is it not happening with Manipur? Is Manipur not a part of India?’’ said Kritika Tharan.
Krithika, psychiatrist Dr Radhika Murugeshan, and mental health professional Sujadevi Adimooli LR have been in Manipur for five days. The group of friends has organised mental and emotional health camps and are helping people cope with neurosis, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and other issues.” With such a large outbreak of violence, there is bound to be severe trauma which needs to be attended to immediately,” said Krithika. “Tomorrow we step into Meitei areas from the Kuki-Zo areas.’’
Christy Suantak, a local who is in Churachandpur in Manipur, said, “There is a great need for this. I too go around every day, comforting people in relief camps, for they are in immense pain. There are about 108 camps in the Churachandpur district alone, and about 80,000 people are homeless. There is not only trauma, grief and anger of the past, but uncertainty of the future and how to start afresh, because they have lost everything.’’
Former director of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Sanjoy Hazarika told TNIE, ‘’It is critical that trained counsellors and mental health professionals reach out to those who have suffered harm, intimidation and abuse. They need mental healthcare which cannot be met by monetary compensation. We need more such teams to help them cope with trauma, the loss of loved ones, homes and villages, and the horror of their own neighbours turning on them.”