The purpose of the women’s mission was to start a channel of communication with Meitei and Kuki women in the IDP camps, by listening to their stories and concerns and finding ways to mitigate their plight. The ultimate purpose was to have each side see the plight of women, and to have women come together to reach a greater understanding of the pain which women experience during a civil war.

THE VISIT

16^th August 2024

Team: Anuradha Shankar, Sumona Das Gupta, Nirmala Karuna (later had to discontinue due to family emergency)

Braja Kumar Jiwho: The scholarly nonagenarian exchanged exclusive reading material on the history of identity politics in Manipur. With his insights both Shankar and Karuna were able get a better grp around the sense of persecution and deceit felt by the people of Manipur as early as the 1940s.

Sanamahi Temple: The InterFaith Forum hosted a beautiful reception at Sanahami temple embracing the indigenous Sanamahi religion. Our women’s team consisted of Shankar and Gupta.  The event enabled the speakers to voice their concerns about the prevailing state of affairs, guided thoughtfully by the moderator, Deben Bachaspatimayum.

17^th August 2024

Team: Anuradha Shankar & Sumona Das Gupta accompanied by Rishika Aribam and Ms. Bala

Kanglatompi Relief Camp, West Imphal: The camp was severely overcrowded and located in a tense area where gunfire was common. Residents relied on daily labour in nearby villages but faced major concerns around livelihood, education, health, and limited food supplies. Elderly people who wandered across territories had to be escorted back via neutral vehicles for safety. Government rations were minimal, and essential services like doctors and teachers were scarce due to high risk.

Sardar Patel High School (SC Boys Hostel) Relief Camp, Khurkul, West Imphal: 

The camp housed over 300 people and faced significant challenges related to livelihood, health, and education, with poor hygiene and a lack of privacy.

Mandop Yumphal Relief Camp, Tendongyang, West Imphal:

The camp housed over 1,000 people. Women worked on the looms.  But women’s loom work provided only limited livelihood options. Persistent shortages of food, medicines, and schooling remained major challenges.

Koutruk Ching and Makha Leikai Relief Camps:

Anuradha Shankar and Sumon DasGupta shared, “The atmosphere of fear was all pervasive surrounded as they were by the hills. Technically these were not camps for the displaced but was classified as a relief camp and registered as such because it was a camp where people from the village huddled together every night for some semblance of safety that came with numbers and the fragile protection offered by sandbags. With the chilly winds blowing across the “camp” children wondered around in clothes that barely offered protection against the elements.  Firewood gathering – a task that itself was fraught with danger as the hills were out of bounds was however the only material for cooking rice, dal and potato – a lunch we shared with them. It was a frightening and pathetic sight to behold. When their very survival is threatened, what other guarantees of dignity can be expected?”

Tairempokpi (High School) Relief Camp, West Imphal

This was another low lying building with the same set of concerns. 

18^th  August 2024 

Team: Anuradha Shankar and Sumona Das Gupta accompanied by Ms Bala and Ms Tania of Ekta Parishad.

19^th August 2024

Team: Anuradha Shankar & Sumona Das Gupta accompanied by Reverend Apila Thangal of the Manipur Baptist Convention

The team headed to the hills, through the shameful “buffer” zone, checked and logged in by multiple state/ nonstate armed forces at S. Kotlian, Kangvai, Churachandpur district. Observations:-

Vaiphei tribe: The team managed to locate their abandoned village and their IDP camp right after the “buffer” zone only to find all their houses burnt down or occupied by armed forces with many having to run away to other states. So, the Vaiphei are all wiped out from Manipur.

Lydia Resource Centre run by the Kuki Women Group: Repurposing lives destroyed flight and fear through baking and sticking classes.

Kuki Khanglai Lompi, a young Christian group.: Mitigating The problem of supply of essential medicines.

20^th August 2024

Meetings

• Mr Lalboi Neihsial General Secretary All Manipur Tribal Union
• The Martyr Park in Sehken in the outskirts of Churachandpur. It is a cemetery of remembrance of those killed in the recent violence.
• Makeshift office of the Kuki Baptist Convention in Churachandpur and met with the church leaders

21^st August 2024

The women’s mission to Manipur ended with an exit meeting hosted by the Archbishop in Imphal which was attended by members of the Inter Faith Forum where the team members and the representatives of various faiths engaged in peacebuilding efforts shared their views and perspectives. 

Deep mistrust, fear, and deprivation shape life in Manipur as communities cling to competing histories, perceive the military as partisan, and face constant threats from militias which extenuates insecurity.