Death : Only future to look at ? Survivors in relief camps
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‘I want to die at my own home.’ If this does not jolt the conscience of Delhi and Imphal then perhaps nothing would, coming as it is from the mouth of a bereaved mother, whose son took the extreme step of taking his own life inside a relief camp set up at Kwakta Sericulture Farm in Bishnupur district, then maybe nothing would. Manipur must by now know the story of Angom Premkumar who committed suicide inside his own room at the pre- fabricated house of the relief centre at the said Sericulture Farm, but he left without telling his story and what his mother has had to say perhaps should sum up the story of the thousands of people surviving in the different relief camps set up across the State. Mark the words to perhaps better understand the mental trauma of the survivors at the relief camps. It is not about ‘I want to spend the rest of my life in my own home; I want to see my grandchildren growing up the place we used to call home’ but it is ‘I want to die at my own house.’ A line that should resonate within anyone who comes under the description of a human being and this is where questions ought to be raised on whether the men and women who are ruling the roost at Delhi and Imphal come anywhere near the understanding of human beings or not. Read the ‘I want to die in my own home’ line with the observation of the secretary of Khwairamband Ima Keithel Lukmai Sellup that there could be many others in relief camps who may have suicidal tendencies and the tragedy of it all should dawn upon everyone. Just hours before the secretary of Khwairamband Ima Keithel Lukmai Sellup expressed her fear and anxiety came the news of yet another man attempting to take his own life at the Takmu Water Sports Complex, Laishoi in Bishnupur district. This is what is extremely worrying and frightening at the same time too, for here is a case of folks attempting to take their own lives in the face of the Government abjectly failing to protect their homes and source of livelihood and yet at the same time one continues to see the siren blazing, so called political leaders living in their citadels and in some cases spewing nonsensical broadsides at who they deem are their political rivals. Over 14 months is a pretty long time and an infant born back then would now be a one year old child, having being fed solid food, or in the case of the Meiteis for whom the Chak Umba rituals would have been performed. The timeline of 14 months will become all that more significant if one views this against the fact that a 49 year old woman back then would today be a woman having crossed the 50 year mark ! This is where it becomes stupefying to see that the Government just does not seem to understand this bare and basic point.
The stupefying should be understood in the backdrop of the fact that despite the violence erupting more than 14 months back and over 60 thousand people still surviving in the different relief centres set up across the State, no worthwhile measures can be seen to put the State on the track of normalcy. Delhi continues to be indifferent and Imphal is still fumbling for an answer. What efforts have been put in place to talk things over ? The Peace Committee that was set up in the early days of the ongoing clash has been a non-starter but yet no effort has been made to give it a push by reconstituting the members and see what can be more acceptable to people on either side of the clash divide. Governor Anusuiya Uikey has already made it clear that discussions have been held to implement the National Register of Citizens at the level of the Union Home Minister, and that is the last that has been heard with no report on its follow up. No one seems to know what Delhi is actually up to and one wonders why it has kept mum on the status of the Suspension of Operation pact signed with different Kuki groups under the KNO and UPF, after the term of its validity expired on February 28 and while common sense says that any pact that is not renewed automatically becomes redundant, what is happening at the ground reality tells a story far removed from this common understanding. This is where one sees a slip between what Delhi has been maintaining verbally and what is actually happening at the ground. Has Imphal made any effort to get to know the official status of the SoO pact ? No answer has been forthcoming and this is where more and more fingers can get pointed to the Governments, both at Imphal as well as at Delhi and this is not a positive sign at all.
The stupefying should be understood in the backdrop of the fact that despite the violence erupting more than 14 months back and over 60 thousand people still surviving in the different relief centres set up across the State, no worthwhile measures can be seen to put the State on the track of normalcy. Delhi continues to be indifferent and Imphal is still fumbling for an answer. What efforts have been put in place to talk things over ? The Peace Committee that was set up in the early days of the ongoing clash has been a non-starter but yet no effort has been made to give it a push by reconstituting the members and see what can be more acceptable to people on either side of the clash divide. Governor Anusuiya Uikey has already made it clear that discussions have been held to implement the National Register of Citizens at the level of the Union Home Minister, and that is the last that has been heard with no report on its follow up. No one seems to know what Delhi is actually up to and one wonders why it has kept mum on the status of the Suspension of Operation pact signed with different Kuki groups under the KNO and UPF, after the term of its validity expired on February 28 and while common sense says that any pact that is not renewed automatically becomes redundant, what is happening at the ground reality tells a story far removed from this common understanding. This is where one sees a slip between what Delhi has been maintaining verbally and what is actually happening at the ground. Has Imphal made any effort to get to know the official status of the SoO pact ? No answer has been forthcoming and this is where more and more fingers can get pointed to the Governments, both at Imphal as well as at Delhi and this is not a positive sign at all.