Fund Drive request on the present humanitarian crisis in Manipur
- Burning Voices -

Delhi, May 17, 2010

Burning Voices is a collective of concerned professionals and students from Manipur, trying to respond positively to the socio-political challenges in NE India in general and Manipur in particular. We strive to harness the creative energy of the youth and channelise it towards a just soceity.

We are deeply concerned with the present humanitarian crisis brought about by the ongoing economic blockade on the National Highways 39 and 53 connecting Manipur with the rest of India. The blockade was called by All Naga Student's Association, Manipur (ANSAM) since 12th of April, 2010 in protest against the Government's decision to hold ADC (Autonomous District Council) election in the hill districts of Manipur.

The situation in the highways has worsened since the unfortunate confrontation between activists trying to push for Th. Muivah's visit to his native village in Manipur and security forces resisting the same on the 6th of May, 2010 wherein, two protesters died. The immediate result of this confrontation is the complete ban on vehicular movements in these National Highways.

The 2.4 million people of Manipur are reeling under an acute scarcity of food, medical supplies, petroleum products and other commodities essential to daily sustenance. Public and private hospitals have closed down due to the unavailabity of life support systems, medicines and nasal cannula oxygen. ICUs (Intensive Care Unit) have stopped functioning altogether since last month. The shortage of fuel has hampered interstate transportation leading to shut down of educational institutions and offices.

In an unfortunate incident, a seventy year old woman Takhellabam Kombirei died on the way to Jiribam on Highway 53 as the bus she was travelling in was blocked from proceeding by the blockade supporters. The food reserves are depleting in the FCI godowns, evoking an insecurity amongst the panic-stricken women living around the granaries leading to restriction of large scale dispersal of food grains from the godowns to remote areas of Manipur.

Women, children, daily wage-earners and people in various parts of Manipur, particularly Chandel and Tamenglong districts have to bear the worst brunt. Both the administrative as well as security forces have confirmed that the two districts are facing acute shortage of food.

Our intervention, here, is not to get into the political stand-off or to initiate another debate on it. Our primary concern and anxiety is the plight of the people of Manipur especially those in the periphary of the state. We wish to address this humanitarian crisis. We understand that we cannot provide a solution to the present crisis but we believe that we should try and make whatever little difference we can and reach out to the most needy sections of our state, in the hope that others will also join and support our endeavour.

We appeal to all the individuals and organizations to come forward and help us raise funds. Please contribute generously and let us make this noble cause a success!

To contribute:
Athokpam Raju Singh.
Axis Bank, SCO-29, SEC-14, Gurgaon.
Acc. No: 056010100675567
MICR:110211008
IFS Code: UTIB0000056

For further queries call at 91-9891402663 (Sumitra) , 91-9910257335 (Raju),