'During our visit, both sides were firing at each other'

'The situation is so bad that it is not possible for me to explain in words how bad the conditions are for the common man of Manipur.'

On Friday, August 4, 2023, the violence in Manipur will enter its fourth month.

On Saturday and Sunday, July 29 and 30, 2023, 21 MPs from the INDIA alliance traveled to Manipur to assess the situation.

Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com spoke to P P Mohammed Faizal, a member of Parliament from the Nationalist Congress Party, Sharad Pawar faction, who visited the troubled state.

We reached Manipur on Saturday afternoon and soon went to visit the refugee camps of Meiteis and Kukis.

It was sad to see that the violence that broke out in Manipur in early May has not subsided and people are still living in refugee camps with no signs of normalcy that was visible to us.

The situation is so bad that it is not possible for me to explain in words how bad the conditions are for the common man of Manipur.

The official figure that was given to us was that there are 3,000 to 4,000 people living in different refugee camps and who are not able to go back to their homes, and this three months since the violence broke out.

There are only sad stories to hear on both sides in Manipur and the trust deficit between the Meiteis and Kukis is at its peak.

Even during our visit we could hear gunshots as both sides were firing at each other.

The only ray of hope was that we met some Kuki and Meitei students who had saved each other's lives during the violence, but now both communities live separately in their own areas.

We told the governor of Manipur (Anusuiya Uikey) that she must take the lead and call for an all-party delegation and solve this problem on an urgent basis.

The worst affected in Manipur are the school children. For the last three months almost all schools are shut in Manipur. Parents are hoping that normalcy will return soon and only then they will send their children back to school. Unfortunately, there are no visible signs of normalcy.

We feel the first thing that needs to be done is to remove fear and anxiety from the people's minds in Manipur. The government must take the lead in it.

Had the Manipur state government acted earlier, we would not have seen such a sorry state of affairs. I feel right now peace should be the top-most priority for everyone and there should be no discussion of a separate territory or a separate legislature as is being demanded by some groups.

Today, no Kuki enters Meitei areas and no Meitei enters Kuki areas. The Meitei community feels that the Assam Rifles deployed in the state to restore peace is not helping their community. Therefore, nothing constructive is happening on the ground.

The government machinery has completely failed and they are not taking any concrete steps that is visible that can lead to normalcy soon.

Each community has its own narrative of grievances, so how will the breakthrough happen? And it is only the government of the day that has to set the narrative of peace.

We in the Opposition parties are being blamed that we have gone to add fuel to the fire in Manipur, but that is not true. The Bharatiya Janata Party is only making political statements on our visit, but the fact is that we want Manipur to return to normalcy.