Imphal: Hundreds of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who hail from Manipur’s Moreh border town and are taking shelter at Wangjing Lamding Higher Secondary School, Thoubal district on Monday staged a sit-in protest against the state government’s proposal to give shelter to them at the fabricated house at Yaithibi Loukon of the same district.
“We want to return to our birthplace at Moreh and die there,” the protesters told the newsmen on Monday.
The central government has released Rs. 150 crore for the construction of fabricated houses for giving shelter to displaced persons at different locations across the state of which presently, the construction of 400 prefabricated houses at Yaithibi Loukol is almost completed.
The state government had already provided financial assistance of Rs. 1000 each to people staying in relief camps for the second round.
Over 61, 000 individuals were displaced in the ongoing communal violence. There are over 350 relief camps at different places in the state.
Notably, since May 3, more than 1,200 houses and 400 shops belonging to the Meitei community have been looted, vandalized, and burnt at Moreh, Tengnoupal district of Manipur predominantly inhabited by the Kukis.
Over 4000 Meiteis fled from Moreh and they are taking shelter at different relief camps at present
However, official reports stated that so far, 4800 houses are confirmed to have been burned down but the numbers are likely to rise to 5000 while the exact number for the hill districts is yet to be confirmed.
Manipur is on the turmoil that broke out between the Kukis and Meiteis on May 3, 2023. Over 180 individuals lost their lives.