Manipur crisis: Two years on, not much has changed on the ground

The Manipur violence that erupted on 3 May 2023 has seen no major improvement in the past 24 months.

- NINGLUN HANGHAL

The Manipur violence that erupted on 3 May 2023 has seen no major improvement in the past 24 months. What has changed in these two years of the crisis is the imposition of President's Rule. The other improvement is that in the recent months there are no reports of violence, killings or mob rampages in the media between the two warring communities—the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zos.

The displaced persons are still languishing in relief camps, both in the hills and the valley. Over 60,000 people were uprooted, more than 200 killed, and hundreds of houses and villages burnt down to ashes in the violent conflict.

Those in these relief camps are being supported entirely by philanthropic organisations and NGOs. The district administrations could merely provide them basic dry rations—rice and dal. People are lodged in government infrastructures that are in dilapidated conditions; especially the Kuki-Zo relief camps are pathetic. Hundreds of them are huddled together in cramped spaces. Basic amenities are absent. Health and medical care is a major concern, as the hill areas inhabited by the Kuki-Zo tribals lack basic development infrastructures and resources. Several of the Kuki-Zo communities who could afford it had to make their way outside the state for healthcare services. The journey is a major hardship. Kuki-Zos who had to go out of their districts had to take a long and arduous ride to Mizoram or Nagaland, then further on to cities such as Guwahati, Delhi, or Kolkata. The road communication, which gets worse in the monsoon, is altogether another story. Education was severely impaired. Hundreds of students had to flee their schools and colleges. Moreover, there are no universities in the Kuki-Zo tribal hill district, which further adds to the woes.