CHALLENGE IN SENDING PEOPLE HOME FROM MANIPUR CAMPS

Displaced people living in relief camps want to return to their original homes — the Meiteis in the hills and the Kuki-Zos in the Imphal Valley. But the trust deficit is so high that even entering each other’s territory is fraught with risk. Kuki-Zo MLAs say living together in peace as brothers with Meiteis is doable but not under one roof

- PRASANTA MAZUMDAR @Guwahati

Twenty-eight months have rolled by since Manipur was hit by a bloody ethnic violence that claimed more than 250 lives, displaced some 62,000 others, internally partitioned the state and caused cessation of co-existence between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo tribals - the two communities caught in the conflict. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the state with a "development package" balm, but Manipur seeks much more. All communities in the still beleaguered state, where interaction between the warring communities is frozen in a disturbed time, want a definitive plan for peace.

Present status

There is some progress in terms of peace and economy. The market is picking up. There is some semblance of security among people living in inter-district border areas which separate people from the two communities.

Farming activities, especially in the 'buffer zone' where the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley and the Kuki-Zo-dominated hills meet, started after the guns had fallen silent. But people still do not feel fully secure as these areas witnessed deaths and destruction during the conflict.

Both communities still cannot go to each other's areas. For the Meiteis, air travel from Imphal is the only option to leave the state.

Kuki-Zo tribals, settled in south-western parts of the state, can leave the state by undertaking 15-20 hours of arduous road journey to adjoining Mizoram. Those living in eastern and northern parts can travel by road to go to Nagaland and beyond.

PM's visit