Imphal/Moreh: Chingtham Ibomcha waited with a vacant expression to receive her daily meal at the Government Dance College auditorium in Imphal’s Peace Compound, which serves as a shelter for the Meiteis who fled the Kuki-majority regions in conflict-hit Manipur. Hailing from Moreh, a town near the Indian-Myanmar border which is 120 km away, she escaped with her 15-year-old son on May 9, 2023, when Kuki miscreants reportedly set Meitei houses and shops on fire.
"We initially fled to Porampat, then to Akampat, seeking refuge near an Assam Rifles camp. Eventually, we found sanctuary here as tensions escalated,” Chingtham, a widow, recounted to DH. "I couldn't salvage anything, everything was burnt down."
Chingtham hoped the government would allow them to go back home before the Lok Sabha elections scheduled on April 19 and 26.
Moreh comes under Outer Manipur, one of the two Lok Sabha seats in the northeastern state which still grapples with the ethnic clashes that broke out in May 2023.
The Election Commission's decision to open special polling booths near relief camps for displaced voters dashed Chingtham's hopes of returning home before the polls. The ongoing tensions in both the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley and the Kuki hills have prevented the displaced from returning, with no resolution to the conflict in sight even 11 months after the violence began.
Biren Chandam, another displaced Meitei, echoed Chingtham's concerns. "The political parties and the EC want us to vote amid the turmoil but no one is sure when peace will return," said Biren, who took shelter in the relief camp after his house at Cherow in Kakching district was set on fire. Even as Meiteis have fled the hills and the Kukis left the valley, Chandam, a driver, said, "I don't want to settle here in the valley."
No documents
The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur, has asked all displaced persons to submit identification documents 10 days before the polls. But several people taking shelter in the valley as well as Kuki hills told DH that they lost all papers in the violence that claimed over 200 lives and rendered nearly 70,000 displaced.
Voters undecided in Moreh
Kaleb Baite, a Kuki villager uprooted by conflict, sat in silence on a wooden bench with his wife Kimnei Lian at Moreh Government Higher Secondary School, where 79 Kuki-Zo people took shelter after their villages were allegedly attacked by the Meiteis on May 9. With the school’s reopening, nearly half of the displaced have been relocated. "We are waiting for the direction of our civil society organisations... If they ask us to vote, we will. If they ask us to abstain, we will stay away from polling," said Baite, a carpenter. It was Easter Sunday and the couple had just returned from church services. "We all prayed for the restoration of peace so that we can go back home and start our life afresh."
Several influential Kuki organisations recently decided not to field a Kuki candidate in the Outer Manipur seat where Nagas and Kukis are dominant. The Naga People's Front and the Congress have fielded Naga candidates in the seat. The BJP and its ally have extended support to the NPF candidate.
"So far, no leader has approached us seeking votes. If they come, we will urge them to convince the Centre to give the Kukis a separate administration to end the conflict," he said.
Meanwhile, nearly 1,000 people from Kuki-Zo communities who fled to neighbouring Mizoram might miss the chance to vote as the Manipur CEO's office asked them to come back to cast their votes. Mizoram CM Lalduhoma told DH that the displaced people would not be able to vote in Mizoram as they are not in the electoral rolls in his state.
Highlights - Voting amid turmoil Nearly 70,000 people displaced in Manipur violenceEC to set up polling booths near relief camps for displacedDisplaced people must submit IDs 10 days before polls
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