MOIRANG, INDIA: India’s deadly ethnic clashes divided communities in Manipur, but each side tells similar stories of homes torched, harsh new lives in camps, and murder of loved ones.
Armed conflicts between the largely Hindu Meitei majority and the predominantly Christian Kuki in the northeastern state have claimed at least 120 lives since May. Many people in Manipur think the figure might be higher.
The army evacuated teacher Ranjana Moirangthem after she spent a horrific night hiding in a room with 25 neighbors as gunfights between gangs raged all around them. She was one of the 50,000 people who were forced to flee.
Leaving only the clothes she wore, Moirangthem, a Meitei resident in Churachandpur’s Kuki-only section, fled. She lost track of the credentials required to obtain employment in her stress. She then begged a Kuki acquaintance to save her priceless documents but was warned that her house was probably one of the thousands set on fire. She stated, “I was a teacher.” “Since I have nothing to substantiate my qualifications, I don’t know what to do.”
She now resides in a congested camp in Moirang district on aid from the government and charitable organizations, where 250 people share a guesthouse with mattresses covering every square inch of the floor. She said, “I just want to go back.” “I have spent my entire life in Churachandpur; it is also my home.”
AFP/APP
