"I cried as we saw our homes getting burnt. Where do I go now?"

Napat Village is set on a foothill of low-lying mountain ranges in Bishnupur district of Manipur. Its idyllic setting amidst greenery and Manipur River gushing by, make this a paradise for its residents. This river links Manipur with Myanmar as it flows through it and merges with Myittha River which is a tributary of the Chindwin River. Just a few hours’ drive from Imphal (80 km), this village is in Moirang sub-division of Bishnupur district. It has about 200 homes where residents happily engage in farming, weaving, poultry and cattle rearing. This is home to the Meitei community who live beside their Kuki neighbours in the adjoining village called Laloiphai which falls under Churachandpur district. Just a stretch of paddy field separates the two villages. Over the years, the spirit of camaraderie and brotherhood was forged through many cultural exchanges especially during festivals like Holi/Yaosang or Christmas. They invariably land up celebrating these festivals together and partaking in sports events whether it was held in Napat or in Laloiphai. No wonder, they could slip in and out of each other’s village anytime with ease and, with deep understanding that was cemented over the years. When Covid hit the world, the villagers from both sides saw themselves standing together as one.

Nongmaithem Rebika Chanu one of the residents of Napat now laments the loss of that era of peace between them and their neighbours. It happened all too suddenly for her to even comprehend the chain of events. Today, as she tries to make sense of her life sitting with her family in a relief camp inside Manipur, all she has are memories of the village that is now burnt. Her life as a junior school teacher was one of joy. The 47 students in that school were her source of happiness. “We were so happy in that setting,” she rues.

The incident of May 3 had set an uneasy air in both the villages. Fear gripped both the Kukis and Meiteis residents, perhaps in equal measure. Even then, they were together in spirits and assured each other that they would stand by each other. They had in fact come out from their homes and got together and entered into an understanding with the elders from both the villages that nothing would be allowed to come in between them. Assured, they all went back home by 10 pm and called it a day. The next day, on May 4th, incidents in and around Imphal began to change the atmosphere. It became clear that there was now a clear divide on ethnic lines. “Fear gripped us and we knew we had to flee,” she says.

They began to flee in batches.  First to escape were women and children who crossed the bridge over Manipur River and reached Sugnu, a small town on the banks of this river. Sugnu is to the east of Churachandpur. “We reached Wangnoo which is inside Sugnu with many members from my village and we just sat on the street wondering what would unfold next,” she says.
With just the clothes they wore and a few small bags that they picked in a hurry to shove in essential items – documents, Aadhar cards and bank passbooks, they left the village. “It did not strike us to make anything at that moment,” she says.
And since all seemed quiet particularly on this side of Manipur on the night of 4th, they all returned to their village in Napat on 5th morning by 10 am.

The moment she reached home she felt safe and secured. That’s when Chanu realised once again the warmth and safety of her home had meant the world to her. “When I left home on 4th May, I cried to my god and pleaded that nothing should happen to my home. I cried then and said that I would be coming home,” she recalls.
“When I saw my home – I was so happy. Our house was intact. The pleasure of being home and to be able to see a familiar face was something else,” she says.

The family and other villagers remained in the village till May 27th but they were seized with fear and uncertainty. “This fear was mutual fear for both the villages,” she says.
As things got more tense in other parts of Manipur and, by then many homes of both parties had been burnt one after the other, the air in her village began to have a different weight. “We are scared and so were the kukis in the adjoining village,” she says.
According to Chanu, there was a peace agreement signed between Kuki villages Chiefs, CSOs, KSOs and Meitei villages of the adjoining areas of Sugnu (Churachandpur, Bishnupur, Kakching and Chandel Districts) on 4th May. “Part of this agreement was that the Meiteis would inform the Kukis if Arambai Tengol came to the village as they are scared of them and they will also inform us when the kuki militants came,” points Chanu. Between May 8 and May 27, she says over 20 bunkers were built by the kukis in that paddy field that now forms as an invisible border.

Meanwhile, her mind was racing with thoughts of what might happen. For instance, she thought of the logistical challenges of crossing the river (between Napat and Sugnu) via the bridge which was far from Napat. That’s when villagers started making makeshift boats with wooden logs just in case they needed to flee.

The makeshift boats did come handy. On May 27 at 10 pm, there was a need to escape to a safer place. The calm was broken and there was no other way but to run. “We eventually crossed the river and got onto the other shore in order to stay alive,” she says.

The male folks joined the women much later.  They remained on the fringe of Sugnu and did not enter as “we were scared to get inside Sugnu because there was heavy exchange of firing from different directions: Laloiphai (West), Langching (East) and Bridge side (south). “Thus, we remained in the community hall by the roadside. While we were there, we heard of our houses being burnt. From a far we saw the flame. We could not save our homes and we all looked and cried,” said Chanu who is still in a relief camp with her neighbours in Wabagai, a town in Kakching district of Manipur. “Most days, I just cry thinking of my home. Where do I go now.”

(Next series will be a Kuki-Zomi victim) 

 

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