Affected villagers cry out their sad tales
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, April 19 2009: "I would never go back home.

I was so terrified on seeing an array of weapons kept leaning on the door of my house," said one Ibempishak who fled from the Operation Summer Storm zone, away from her home.

"Although I kept my house locked when we left, the door was found broken down by army personnel", she alleged.

Quivering with anguish and grief, Salam Ibempishak sobbed that she found her house occupied by army personnel when she and four other women of her neighbourhood returned to their homes at Nongmaikhong Awang Leikai to take clothes and feed poultry and pigs this morning.

Relief materials being distributed to displaced villagers at a camp

Talking to media persons at Ithai Bazar today, Ibempishak recalled that she was taken aback on seeing the army personnel everywhere around their house.

On seeing the army personnel, she could not enter her own home.

Moreover, a number of weapons were seen kept leaning on the front door.

This sight terrified her so much that she could not enter her own home.

As Ibempishak shivering with emotion could not tell her stories, another woman who went with her picked up the story.

Ibempishak had already sent her son to Imphal on April 14 out of fear of any action from the army.

Since the day they fled from the homesteads, no male villagers went to the villages fearing that the army may force them to row boats or remove reeds and other water plants.

A team of media persons who went to the deserted villages of Nongmaikhong, Khordak etc, observed groups of women carrying sacks coming out from the villages after feeding poultry and pigs.

The visibly terrified women said that the army personnel did not prevent them from entering their houses.

But the army personnel did not allow the villagers to go out to the side of Keibul Lamjao National Park, located to the west of their village.

The villagers were also restricted from going out for fishing or feeding fish.

With the villagers fleeing away from their homes because of the incessant firing of heavy guns and mortars, they are unable to transplant paddy for the first phase of double cropping, they conveyed.

At Khordak Ichil, about 40 villagers who were staying together at the place of one Ningthoujam Yaiskul said that they have been great difficulties as the food items and other commodities stored in their shop have ran out after army personnel have bought some and they consumed the remaining quantity.

On observing the surrounding houses, no human occupants could be seen except poultry birds and dogs.

However, army personnel could be seen occupying the watch towers and mobile towers of the Keibul Lamjao National Park as well as deserted huts.

One aged person who collapsed on hearing the sounds of gun fire and mortars shelling was also seen being administered with intravenous injection.

Talking to the media persons, the villagers taking shelter at Laphupat Tera Khunou said that the army have been using seven boats belonging to them.

They confided that they were too afraid to ask for their boats.

Even though army personnel did not prevent them from going to their houses, they were prohibited from going to paddy fields nor were they allowed to use water-pumps for drawing water to paddy fields.

Informing that they heard gun shots twice this morning, the villagers conveyed that army personnel prevented them from taking relief materials provided by the Bishnupur DC to the relief camp.

The relief materials were, however, delivered to the relief camp by a police team led by the OC of Kumbi police station, they added.

While the PHED has provided some quantity of alum, local MLA T Mangibabu also gave some materials for constructing latrine today.

One main problem of the campers is inadequacy or lack of proper latrines.

Besides cordoning off all the roads leading to the Keibul Lamjao National Park, the army personnel have been using night goggles, thermal imageries and other high-tech equipment in the operation.