The relief camps are emptying out and curfew is being eased, but with a population whose confidence is deeply shaken, Manipur has a long road to “normalcy”. On Tuesday, Imphal West District Collector Th. Kirankumar issued an order lifting curfew in the area for six hours — from 5 am to 11 am — effective Wednesday, citing an improvement in the law and order situation. “There have been no major incidents of violence in the last 48 hours. Curfew was lifted in almost all districts for four-five hours today. This is a sign of normalcy returning to the state. Curfew will be lifted for longer periods if the situation continues to improve,” said government spokesperson Sapam Ranjan. With the transfer of people stranded in relief camps beginning in full swing on Monday, another 6,000 people were transferred on Tuesday. While around 35,000 displaced people had been housed in relief camps across the state, according to Manipur Education Minister Th. Basanta Singh, around 4,000 remain there now. “The government along with civil society organisations are all working towards confidence building measures because that is very, very important. We should be confident to bring about peace and all of us should live in harmony. A lot of interactions with important personalities have been taking place,” said Sapam Ranjan. Education Minister Singh said the state government has also started working towards addressing the disruption in children’s education. While summer vacations in schools across the state were to begin later this month, the date has now been changed to May 4. They will end on May 30. Manipur University has also declared summer vacation from May 15 to June 5. “For a normalised situation and to ensure children do not suffer in their academic schedule, once the summer vacation is over and the problem is solved, we will take up further necessary action,” said Singh. While the state government and administration emphasised the gradual return to “normalcy”, for those displaced by the ethnic clashes between Meiteis and Kukis, the return home won’t be possible anytime soon. Mercy Baite (30) is one of the 1,930 people who have flown out of the state after being escorted by security personnel from relief camps, mostly in Imphal, to the airport. A PhD student at Manipur University with family in Churachandpur, she has left for a relative’s home in Mizoram. “At that time, there was no way for us to go home and we did not feel secure in the camp. It was unsettling to be in proximity of people who had attacked us. I left with a group for the airport in two buses, with three security vehicles escorting us,” she said. While she longs to be with her family in Churachandpur, she is not sure about returning to her university in Imphal. Recalling the mob which broke into her campus on May 3, she said, “It was a very clear message, that we are not wanted.” Of 525 evacuees who had arrived from Churachandpur at Imphal’s Khuman Lampak Sports Complex on Monday, 70 spent the night at the complex itself. “We will stay here until they make us go away,” said 27-year-old M Baby, sitting on a mattress in the sports complex’s youth hostel. She had lived in the town all her life and says her family does not have anyone whose home they can seek out now. “We have lost all our property in Churachandpur. We hope to start a business in Imphal or somewhere else, but not back there. Whatever it is, we will have to start from zero,” she said. Premila Thongam (44) says her family lost all 400 chickens that made up the poultry business they ran in Churachandpur. Now in the sports complex camp with her three children, in a district she has never lived in, she said she is unsure where to go next.
