Answer to my silent prayers amidst ethnic riots in Manipur
The recent outburst on social media about Mary Kom and her husband have once again reminded me about my experiences in her native state. It makes me wonder that human beings, be it from a Tribe in the hills or the mainland, there is no difference in the way they react when you trouble them and touch their innermost secrets. The Northeast region is well-known for appreciating the emancipation of women, Letting your woman earn while you take care of the household and her finances is not seen as a sign of weakness at all; but once we confuse these cultural practices with those in the patriarchal Indian mainland society, there is going to lot of chaos, confusion and negativity amongst the affected parties. On a lighter note, fighting is part of the warrior clans of the hills and don’t take them lightly…..
“Societies are built as much as on what people choose to forget as what they remember.”
Burning tyres, cars, and houses of innocent families in border villages of Manipur
Hooliganism spreading slowly on streets of capital city of Imphal
Tandem madness in foothills of distant districts over Poppy plantations
Burning torches to warn the innocent tribals to stay away from Mount Koubro
Loud masochist war cries in Ima Kaithels (market places in Manipur owned by women: Imas)
Rebellious, violent protestors parading swords and guns openly on the civil streets of Imphal
These incidents happening during the summer of 2023 brought our life moving at snail’s pace to a sudden jolt. Post Covid, I had joined my husband with our daughter studying in class VIIIth at his place of posting: Imphal while he served as Principal Sainik School Imphal. There was not much to do it being the period of summer vacation, when suddenly the shocking news of a peaceful Tribal Solidarity March in a hill district named Churachandpur turning violent reached the Imphal valley. A day later, the violent tribals of one community started targeting another community and the whole city turned into a melting pot of violence and bloodshed.
The scaring reality did not hit me until on 04 May 2023, my husband came home running during working hours and informed about the retaliatory attacks on specific communities at some nearby places in Imphal valley. Some of our employees had also been victims of such attacks. As a result, they had to leave their houses and move back to either their villages or jungles in the foothills. The gravity of the situation did not hit me until I heard my husband talking to some Civil Police authorities who told about the mob gatecrashing and looting the arms and ammunition from the Armoury of the neighbouring Manipur Police Training Centre in large numbers.
That is when I could also hear civilian families, especially women, with their children and elderly family members knocking at our gates to seek refuge for the night. And suddenly, the school employees living in the neighbouring villages too started getting panic calls from their family members and neighbours. Soon the school campus was flooded with civilian families and we had to close the gate citing inability to take any more!
Within no time my hands were full with planning for the lodging and boarding of these people. What I saw in front of me was mostly tiny tots, some teenagers, pregnant women, lactating mothers, elderly men and women and their pets: basically, they were all what we call most “vulnerable” and “soft target” people in the vicinity. While the tiny tots were enjoying climbing and jumping around bunker beds in the school dormitories, fear and helplessness were clearly written all over their mothers’ faces. Some of them were continuously talking in their mother tongues with desperate hand gestures. I got hold of a young girl who could understand Hindi and communicated with them through some soothing words and gestures. Simultaneously, the school administration with the help of volunteers decided to enhance the security within the resources we had.
All the school employees immediately volunteered to take turns to stand guard and patrol the long perimeter as the sounds of gunshots could be heard in the vicinity. Along with the gunshots, armed people plying on the highway started making enquiries about cadets belonging to a particular community and asking them to hand over. These gunmen disappeared only after they were told that the school is observing summer vacation and that the dormitories are all empty for the time being. Our main handicap was the long pourous perimeter that we had to guard against any outside attacks and the rumours that were slowly spreading through the local grapevine.
Some of the employees guarding the main gate took refuge behind the sole Bird housed at the school gate. They said this gave them a sense of alertness and safety. The whole night was spent by all of us walking on the road, counting the gunshots. It was at that time that I realized the sense of security an Indian Air Force campus provides the families with and started wondering if things would be different if there was an IAF base nearby where we could run to security. All the internet facilities and communication facilities were cut and there was no way we could establish any connection with the outside world. We kept telling everyone “God helps those who help themselves” and continued with the patrolling.
Suddenly late in the night when I heard the first roars of IAF’s Mighty birds flying in the sky, it seemed as if God had heard us and sent us help in the form of these Jets. There were many sorties that took place that night when the mighty jets transported the CRPF personnel and additional security forces personnel to control the situation. Those roars instilled the feeling of hope and trust in all of us who were there that night. What happened after that night was an year long continuous struggle to establish normalcy in the school as the state navigated through its ethnic riots. Life went on, we got posted out and moved to another place of posting with my husband but till date, we silently salute the guts of IAF pilots and all the other supporting personnel who gave us hope of survival that night.
