S. Ibetombi (80-year-old) was the wife of a freedom fighter. When the Kukis attacked the picturesque Serou village, some 45 km from the State capital Imphal, Ibetombi asked her family to run and save themselves first and return to get her later. The attackers locked her house from outside and set it on fire. Ibetombi was burnt alive.
Her husband, S Churachand Singh, who died at 80, was a freedom fighter who won several awards, including one from APJ Abdul Kalam on August 9, 2004 and another from Indira Gandhi in 1972.
“When we came under attack, my grandmother told us to run now and return for her after some time. ‘Come back to get me,’ she said as we left. Those were her last words, unfortunately,” her 22-year-old grandson Premkantatold mediapersons.
For her cremation, the family could only find her skull. The incident took place in the early hours of May 28, when places like Serou saw massive violence and exchange of gunfire.
Manipur is agriculture-based economy and rice its main produce. The violence has hit cultivation, triggering famine fears
In another shocking incident, 33-year-old Naorem Prakash alias Naotombi was abducted while trying to collect paddy and other edible grains from his partly burnt barn in Torbung Bangla under Bishnupur district on May 9. He never returned home.
His elder brother Naorem Sanayaima Singh told this reporter that armed Kukis burned down their house on the eve of May 3. The family managed to escape. Later they attempted to visit the house twice, but found the area occupied by armed miscreants belonging to the Kuki community and could not check the condition of their house.
Naotombi tried to salvage some grains from their barn but was taken away by the Kukis. When he did not return for several days, his family performed the last rites of his missing younger brother. Naotombi’s wife has taken their children to take shelter in her parents’ place.
Sanayaima has a hectare of well-irrigated agricultural land at the prime place of Torbung Bangla and a van, which he rented. The income from the land and the vehicle supported his family of five people. After the ill-fated night of May 3, the family is left with nothing and forced to take shelter at a relief camp. He is worried about the future of his family and the education of his three sons.
To his relief, his eldest son is being provided free education at Bal Vidya Mandir, Palace Compound Imphal and enrolled at class VI under the free education for victims of ongoing violence in Manipur launched by Siksha Vikash Samiti, Manipur. But, the education for two of his sons is not yet certain. The Siksha Vikash Samiti provides free education to one child from one displaced family as of now.
There are hundreds and thousands of such stories of human devastation in Manipur following the violence of two months. During the violence, villagers were forced to leave most of their livestock, farm and domestic animals at home. Besides targeting the farmers, the Kuki attackers have been continuously killing livestock in the areas where they have taken control.
Manipur Violence : Unprovoked war against Meitei
After the armed Kuki miscreants launched an unprovoked war against the Meitei community of Manipur on May 3 this year, about 400 people were killed and nearly one lakh people displaced in the last two months.
Houses of civilians were destroyed, and temples were desecrated/destroyed by the armed Kukis in Churachandpur, Bishnupur, Kakching, Kangpokpi, Imphal East, Imphal West and Tengnoupal districts of Manipur. The Meitei villages and paddy fields that are situated near Kuki-majority areas are now deserted as the Meiteis were forced to run and take shelter at relief centres and other safer places.
During a visit to different places of Bishnupur district, this reporter witnessed uncultivated agricultural lands and empty houses either burnt or damaged at Phougakchaoikhai, Saiton-Kumbi road, Wathalambi, Nganukon, Toronglaobi, Napat Tangjeng, Chandokpokpi, Khoujumantabi and Leingang. The reporter tried to visit Torbung, the epicentre of the ongoing violence, however, security personnel of state and central forces stopped us at Phoujakhai junction and instructed not to go ahead as armed Kukis have taken control of the area.
Farmers incur economic loss in Manipur violence
According to Khuraijam Ram, Secretary of Loumi Sinmee Sintha Kanba Lup (a farmer’s group), around 40,000 hectares of farmland belonging to the Meitei community in the foothills of Manipur is likely to go waste this season as Kukis have set up their bunkers and dominated the area.
Following incidents of Kukis attacking local farmers whenever they ventured out for cultivation on their agricultural land, the state government deployed security forces in sensitive areas. In five affected districts of Manipur, a total of 1847 state security forces (846 in Imphal West, 389 in Imphal East, 273 in Bishnupur, 147 in Thoubal, 192 in Kakching) including personnel of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed to enable the farmers to carry out agricultural activities till the filing of this report.
Agriculture is the primary economy of Manipur and rice is the main produce. After the violence broke out, a sizeable area of agricultural land is left uncultivated, triggering apprehensions of famine. As per a report by State Agricultural Department, nearly 20 per cent of 195,000 hectares of paddy field in the state have been affected due to the ongoing violence causing a loss of 1600 metric tons of rice amounting to around 40 crores next year.
Toronglaobi High Canel Maning, Khudekpi, Terakhongsangbi, Phougakchaoikhai Maning Leikai, Leingang, Pombikhok, Khoijumantabi, Natap Tangjeng and other villages near foothills in Bishnupur district were largely affected. At least 3000 hectares of agricultural fields in these sensitive areas of Bishnupur district are left uncultivated even after the arrival of monsoon rain.
