Resettlement plan for violence-displaced unclear: Manipur Congress chief
The Manipur government's three-phase resettlement plan for people displaced by a long-drawn conflict lacks clarity and could deepen the divide between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo people, State Congress president Keisham Meghachandra said.
He said the government's decision to execute the plan by December would merely result in shifting the internally displaced people (IDP) from relief camps to prefabricated units, both in the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley and the Kuki-Zo-inhabited hills, instead of facilitating their return to the homes they abandoned or were forced to leave.
Thousands of people — Kuki-Zos from the Imphal Valley and Meiteis from the surrounding hills — were displaced after the ethnic conflict in Manipur broke out on May 3, 2023.
On July 4, Manipur's Chief Secretary P.K. Singh said a three-phase resettlement plan for the IDP had been worked out with the Centre. The first of these three phases was underway, and the next two phases would be undertaken in October and December.
'No road map'
'This resettlement plan is unacceptable to the Congress because the government is unclear. There is no concrete road map, and it is designed to deepen the division between the communities and prolong the displacement of the IDP,' Mr. Meghachandra told The Hindu during an inspection of prefabricated houses for the displaced people in Bishnupur district's Phubala and Saitul.
'There are no efforts by the government under the President's Rule to bring the two communities together, and today is the 796th day since the conflict started. It is sad that even after two years and two months, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not found time to visit our State or discuss the conflict in Parliament or elsewhere, as if Manipur is not a part of India,' he said.
The State Congress president, who represents the Wangkhem constituency in the 60-member Assembly, also slammed the government for claiming Meitei and Kuki-Zo farmers 'working eyeball to eyeball' on the periphery of the Imphal Valley have begun sharing water.
'Water has always been flowing down from the hills to the Valley areas naturally, especially during monsoon,' he said, insisting that the government should show seriousness in thinking about peace to let the communities live together and share resources.
'The government is responsible for what has happened [in Manipur] so far, and it has to take care of what will happen. But this government of the Prime Minister and Home Minister Amit Shah is not serious, not sincere,' Mr. Meghachandra said.
Announcing the resettlement plan, the Chief Secretary claimed some of the internally displaced people have started 'going back', their number reducing from the initial 62,000 to 57,000.
Those who exited the relief camps moved into prefabricated houses, each measuring 20 feet by 20 feet and worth ₹9.3 lakh. Most of the occupied houses are in the Imphal East and Imphal West districts.
The Manipur Police Housing Corporation Limited has been entrusted with constructing these prefabricated units.
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