IMPHAL: The days-long communal violence in Manipur has subsided but the scars will remain. Official sources said 1,700 houses were torched by mobs across districts. The state government said it would rebuild the houses but the victims are still so terrified that they say they will not return to their villages.
The displaced Meiteis and Kukis are lodged in relief camps in the Imphal valley and some hill districts respectively. People from both communities said it would take years for the wounds to heal. “When a mob started burning down the houses in my locality in Churachandpur town, I had called up the police but nobody came to help us,” Shantikumar Sagolsem, who is lodged at a relief camp in Bishenpur district, told this newspaper.
‘No plans to go back’
“We cannot go back. When nobody came to rescue us during violence, how can we live among them or trust the government? We have no plans to go back. We have to protect our lives,” he said.
Fellow Meitei Laishram Rakesh Singh, who too fled his home in Churachandpur and is lodged at another relief camp in Bishenpur, said he would not return to the hill town regardless of whether government builds a house for his family.
Inungnganbi, a 23-year-old schoolteacher, said she is staring at a bleak future. “We are now homeless. If we go to the houses of our relatives, for how long will they keep us? I desperately need a job. How will my school-going siblings continue their studies,” said the young woman from Churachandpur, who appeared clueless about the future.“I don’t want to go back. For years, all communities lived together peacefully. Then, all of a sudden, they attacked us and burned down our houses. We are not going back. I am happy that we are alive,” Inungnganbi said with tears in her eyes.
‘Destroyed in minutes’
Boboi Ningthoujam, another inmate, said he had built his house brick by brick and it took just a few minutes for a mob to destroy it completely. Thopau Vaiphei, a Kuki, lodged at a relief camp in Churachandpur town, is also clueless about the future of his family. His house at Kangbai in Bishenpur district was reduced to ashes by a mob.
Fellow Kuki P Thenjawl is leading a cluttered existence at this relief camp. He comes from a village on the border of Kangpokpi and Imphal East districts. “I haven’t seen such mob fury. Not a single house in my village was spared,” the 30-year-old said. “I don’t think I can go back. Given the huge number of houses that are to be rebuilt, insiders in the state government felt it will take years to resettle these homeless people.
‘I am a Kuki!’
To escape certain death, Shantikumar Sagolsem had to shout out: “I am a Kuki.” The 47-year-old, brought up in the Kuki-majority Churachandpur, naturally considered it his hometown. He can fluently speak the Kuki language, and it saved his life. He was resting at his house after closing his ‘variety shop’ on May 3. He had no idea that the violence, which broke out on the borders of Churachandpur and Bishenpur districts, spread to Churachandpur.
“Around 7 pm, a mob, armed with machetes and knives, swooped down on our locality and attempted to burn down the houses. It is a colony of around 100 Meitei families. After segregating the women and children at one place, we frantically called up the police but nobody came,” Sagolsem, now lodged at a relief camp, said.
Business plummets as internet still down
Long queues outside banks and ATM booths are now a common sight in Manipur. The Internet is down and shops in many areas remain shut for days following ethnic clashes. People are struggling for cash. Essential commodities prices have skyrocketed. Owners of commercial establishments selling costly items are at their wit’s end.
Displaced tribals lodged in relief camps
The displaced Meiteis and Kukis are lodged in relief camps in the Imphal valley and some hill districts respectively. People from both communities said it would take years for the wounds to heal. The state government said it would rebuild the houses but the victims are still so terrified that they say they will not return to their villages.
(Concluded)