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Manipur: Weary locals pin hope on PM Modi's visit

IMPHAL: Robert Singh, a resident of Moreh town in Manipur's Tengnoupal district, lost his drinking water bottling factory due to ethnic violence that started in the state in May 2023. He used to earn ₹15,000-20,000 daily but now lives in a relief camp with thousands of others, receiving 400 grams of cereals and ₹80 daily. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to the state on Saturday has raised hopes among displaced residents like Singh for a return to normalcy and potential resettlement. The clashes between the Meitei community, which is a majority in the Imphal Valley, and the tribal Kuki-Zo communities have claimed over 260 lives and displaced around 60,000 people from both sides. "We want the PM's intervention to help us leave the relief camp and go back to our homes. There should be adequate compensation for our losses and proper security provided so that we can return to where we came from," said Singh, a 46-year-old Meitei, who now lives in the relief camp set up at the Ideal Girls College at Akampat in Imphal, along with his wife and son. Singh, whose house and factory were burned down in the violence, has lost all his savings. At the Akampat camp there are around 380-400 others like him, most of them from Moreh and two families from Kuki-dominated Churachandpur. All of them are Meiteis. RK Surendra came to the Akampat camp from Moreh on May 9, 2023 - six days after the violence started. The 63-year-old, who used to run a successful grocery shop, had to flee with his aged parents, wife and three daughters. "We are not expecting relief in cash or kind. I don't want to be shifted to another camp or be given prefabricated houses, which the state government has allotted to some displaced. We hope to go back to our own places and rebuild our families and future. But I am not expecting much from the PM's visit. It might not hold anything productive for us," he said. According to a Manipur government statement on Friday, the PM will lay the foundation stones of projects worth around ₹7,300 cr and inaugurate completed projects valued at nearly ₹1,200 cr during his visit to the state. Most of them relate to infrastructure like roads and government buildings. It remains to be seen whether the PM makes some announcements specifically meant for those displaced or families who have lost their dear ones in the violence, in the two meetings he will address on Saturday at Churachandpur and Imphal. "I don't have any hope from the PM's visit, which is taking place nearly two and half years since the violence started. In the interim he hasn't listened to us nor said anything to ease our pain. Nothing will come out of this trip," said Bilasana Devi, another resident of the camp. The 48-year-old who used to operate an eatery in Moreh, had to spend many months inside a Assam Rifles compound in Tengnoupal district before coming to the Akampat camp in November last year along with her 73-year-old ailing mother and son who's a university student. Nearly 45 km away from Imphal, in Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi, Joshua Hangsing is also hoping for some outcome from the PM's visit. The 57-year-had lost his seven-year-old son and wife Meena to the violence on June 4, 2023 - a month after the clashes started. Joshua's wife and a family acquaintance Lydia Lourembam were taking the couple's son Tonsing, who had sustained a pellet injury on his head, to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal from Kangpokpi when they were surrounded by a mob at Iroisemba in Imphal West district. It wasn't safe for Kukis to travel to Meitei-dominated Imphal. But while Tonsing's father is a Kuki, his mother and Lydia were Meiteis and the family thought it would be safe for them to accompany the child for better treatment in the state capital. Also, they were assured of security by the state police. Despite the precautions and presence of police in the area, the mob pulled out the driver and a male nurse, both Meiteis, from the vehicle and burnt the ambulance with the child, his mother and the woman acquaintance inside. Police said they were able to recover only a few bones from the vehicle hours after the incident. "My only hope from the PM's visit is that the inquiry into the deaths of my son and wife gets completed and punishment meted out to those responsible for the murders. Till date no one responsible for the crime has been caught," said Joshua, who has received ₹20 lakhs as relief from the government for the loss of two family members.

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