Families of missing persons, IDPs in Manipur Valley moves PM Modi seeking justice, rehabilitation

Imphal: They are the direct victims of the conflict involving the Meiteis and the Kukis in Manipur since May 3, 2023. As the stalemate over finding a solution to the conflict has spanned more than two years now, the pain and agony of the family members of at least 34 persons, who went missing during the conflict and those displaced, perhaps, remained unheard.

On Saturday, as Narendra Modi visited Manipur for the first time since the beginning of the conflict, the families submitted memorandums, separately, to the PM seeking justice and rehabilitation.

"Not less than 34 people have officially disappeared in the past two years. Families wait in agony for closure and justice with no access to compensations, or relief because they have no death certificate. Many kin and kith of the victims are on the verge of exceeding age-bar for jobs which shall only compound their tragedies, said a memorandum submitted by Souls Offered Unitedly for a Lustrated Society (SOULS), an organisation supporting such families.

"Such families have been denied access to compensation, government jobs, or legal reliefs, as the mandatory seven-year waiting period for declaring a missing person as dead under Section 108 of the Indian Evidence Act remains in force. These families whose members have gone missing are also predominantly IDPs making them live in a double jeopardy," president of SOULS, R. K. Bijayalaxmi Devi said.  

They said the seven-year norm for issuing "presumed death" certificates be bypassed as was done by the government in case of those who had gone missing during the 2004 Tsunami and Uttarakhand floods.

IDPs for rehabilitation: 

Three organisations representing over 13,000 displaced Meiteis also submitted a memorandum to Modi seeking a solution to the conflict and thereby facilitating their return to their own homes. They had fled Kuki-dominated Churachandpur and Moreh (Tengnoupal district) as the conflict erupted and have been taking shelter in the Valley. 

The organisations included: Churachandpur Meitei United Committee, Meitei Council Moreh and Committee on Protection of Meitei Victims, Moreh. 

They sought Modi intervention for necessary arrangements for resettlements, reconstruction of the houses destroyed during the conflict, arrange the documents lost during the conflict, steps for education of their children, livelihood support and proper security arrangements, beside others. 

Before addressing the public, Modi met representatives of the displaced persons and local youths, in both Churachandpur and Imphal. He interacted with them and took stock of what they wanted from him to improve the situation.