Police had to resort to firing tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a rally of Internally Displaced Persons in Imphal East taken out to draw the attention of the state Assembly to their demand for immediate rehabilitation and end their suffering.

Around 12 IDPs from the Akampat relief camp suffered minor injuries in the police action while a reporter covering the rally was assaulted by a police officer, prompting the All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union and the Editors’ Guild Manipur to demand a thorough inquiry into the attack and action against the officer within 48 hours.

The IDPs’ rally was called by the Committee on Protection of Meetei Victims, Moreh, from Akampat to Yaiskul but the situation turned tense when the police stopped them from proceeding from Singjamei, a km from Akampat, because of the ongoing Assembly session.

This triggered an intense standoff, prompting the police to resort to firing tear gas shells, mock bombs and rubber bullets to disperse the IDPs who were seen carrying placards that said “Home Sweet Home” and “We want to Go Home”, among others.

The demand of the IDPs and the police action, however, figured in the Assembly.

Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh, according to reports, told the Assembly that the police acted in “self-defence” after the protestors pelted stones and kicked the policemen.

He also said the IDPs cannot return to sensitive areas such as Moreh and Churachandpur owing to security reasons even if “45 or 50 of us (MLAs) decide to send them back”, a statement reflecting the precarious ground situation 14 months after the conflict began. “But we are trying (to ensure their return),” Singh said adding efforts were also on to start peace talks.

Singh had informed the Assembly on Thursday, the first day of the 13-day session, that 226 persons have lost their lives in the conflict between the Kuki-Zos and the Meiteis that started on May 3, 2023, while 59,414 internally displaced persons are living in 302 relief camps in the state.

A few thousand IDPs from Manipur are also taking shelter in neighbouring Mizoram and Assam.

Of the 11,133 houses set ablaze, 4,569 were completely destroyed and 11,892 cases have been registered in different police stations in connection with the violence, he said.

An IDP from Churachandpur, Francis Keisham, living in the Akampat relief camp in Imphal East told The Telegraph that they staged the rally to highlight their “15-month long suffering” and their “demand to be sent back because they don’t have a future in the relief camps”. He said they have given at least six memorandums to the administration to address their grievances but to no avail.

The 41-year-old father of three whose home and barn were destroyed in the conflict, Francis said relief camp inmates from Churachandpur and Moreh (in Tengnoupal) along with “some kind-hearted residents” participated in the rally.