Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) taking refuge in various relief camps across Manipur have expressed strong resentment over the government’s plan to celebrate the upcoming Sangai Festival, terming it an attempt to project a false image of peace and normalcy while thousands remain uprooted from their homes.
Addressing media persons at the Manipur Press Club, Naba Ningthoujam, Co-convenor of the Churachandpur Meitei United Committee—a conglomerate of five organisations based in Churachandpur—said that despite the government’s repeated promises to resettle IDPs by December this year, no visible steps have been taken to restore or rehabilitate the displaced families from the periphery areas. “The government should stop all preparations for the Sangai Festival until the IDPs are safely resettled. Celebrating a festival of peace while we remain homeless is an insult to our suffering,” he said.
Leishangthem Brojendro, Secretary of the Meitei Council Moreh, questioned the government’s claim of normalcy, saying, “People mistake the silence of gunshots as peace. This is not peace—we are still in conflict. We cannot travel freely to Dimapur, Jiribam, or even Churachandpur. The roads are unsafe, and many remain confined in relief camps.” He added that the Sangai Festival was being used “to fool the people by creating an illusion that peace has returned.”
“The government’s attempt to celebrate the festival is a propaganda exercise to blur the reality of continued displacement and insecurity,” Brojendro said, appealing to the public to stand with the IDPs and ensure that the festival, if held, truly reflects peace and harmony rather than pretense.
Echoing similar sentiments, Toijam Sarat Meitei, another IDP representative, condemned the government’s priorities. “The Sangai Festival is meant to protect the deer, but what about human lives? The IDPs are living like animals in relief camps—without dignity, without stability. The government wants to show the world that the Meitei–Kuki crisis has ended, but that is a blatant lie,” he said.
The IDPs collectively appealed to both the Central and State governments to halt all Sangai Festival preparations until real peace is restored and displaced families are allowed to return home safely. They warned that if the government insists on going ahead with the festival, they will boycott it and seek solidarity from the people of Manipur.