Displaced villagers await peace, rebuild lives
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, June 12 2023: Displaced residents from Napat, Tangjeng, Sug-nu and Serou villages are enduring sleepless nights and restless days at various relief camps as they recall the horrifying events of May 28 and worry about their fu-ture once peace is restored.

During a visit to the Wangoo Higher Second-ary School relief camp on Monday, Laishram Bino, a resident of Tangjeng village, recounted how her village came under heavy attack from a large group of armed Kuki militants around 2 am on May 28.Awaken by the rapid gunfire the villagers had to flee with only the clothes on their backs.

As they escaped, they wit-nessed their homes being set ablaze by the militants, feeling hapless against their heavily armed perpetrators.

Despite government as-surances of containing the violence, the displaced res-idents remain sceptical, as Kuki militants continue to occupy their village.

Un-able to return home until the militants are flushed out, they also worry about rebuilding their lives and homes even after peace is restored.

Expressing disappoint-ment in the security forces, Bino alleged that they failed to protect the villagers and launch crackdown against the militants.

She suggested that if the security forces are incapable of confronting the militants, the public should be allowed to take action against them.

Another resident, H Ningthem from Napat vil-lage, revealed that the vil-lage had been guarded by BSF personnel with two ve-hicles.

However, on May 28, around 1:30 am, an Assam Rifles team arrived and had conversation with the BSF troopers.

Shortly after the Assam Rifles team left, the Kuki militants started at-tacking the village.

Fleeing in the midst of continuous gunfire, the villagers wit-nessed their homes being destroyed and burnt, he recalled while urging the government to flush out the militants from their village.

A woman resident of Se-rou, currently residing in a relief camp in Elangkhang - pokpi, expressed her desire to return to a peaceful and normal life.

However, she expressed concern about how their lives could be re-stored even if the crisis is brought under control.

She called on the government to restore peace prompt-ly and provide assistance in their rehabilitation and resettlement.

A volunteer at a relief camp at Wangoo Chigonglei Makhong revealed that the camp currently houses 97 residents from Napat, Tang-jeng, and Serou.

Many of them are elderly individuals above the age of 60, includ-ing women and children, taking shelter in a corn-munity hall with no walls and mud flooring.

He raised concerns about the camp's deteriorating conditions, which could adversely affect the health of the residents, and urged the relevant au-thorities to relocate them to a safer location.

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