IT News
Imphal, March 29:
For nearly two years, Manipur has been grappling with an unresolved humanitarian crisis, leaving over 60,000 people, including 25,000 children, homeless in their own land. What once drew attention and sympathy has now faded into obscurity—not just from the minds of the people, but from the priorities of the government.
On the streets of Manipur, under the merciless sun, women, children, and the elderly sit with handmade goods, pleading with passersby to buy something—anything—to help them survive another day. Their voices, tired yet persistent, echo through the bustling roads: “Please buy something.” Some stop, offering a few rupees; others walk past, indifferent to their silent suffering.
Among them is 40-year-old Lembi (name changed), a widow forced into an unfamiliar life of struggle. Once sheltered in a relief camp in Bishnupur, she now fights daily to sustain her three sons and a daughter. “My sons work as daily laborers, and my daughter is still in school,” she shares, her voice heavy with responsibility.
Relief once trickled in, but now, it has stopped. “We have been forgotten,” she says. The names of her working sons were even erased from the camp’s records. With no government support, she sells goods on the streets, hoping to earn enough to rebuild the home her late husband had once built in Kangvai.
“Some days, I make Rs. 200, sometimes more. But I have to keep going. Even as a widow, I will rebuild my home,” she declares with quiet determination.
For Manipur’s Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), survival is an everyday battle—one that the world seems to have moved on from. But for them, the crisis is far from over.