It was a normal sunny day on the 5th of May in Manipur. But by 2 in the afternoon, the skies had darkened, and half an hour later, Mother Nature broke its fury. Be it climate change or what, the state had not seen anything like it in the last 50 years or so. Heavy rain with high-speed winds soon swept across. The clang sound on tin roofs began to be heard as hail started pouring down from the sky, and the grounds and streets were soon covered in sheets of white. The hail came down in various sizes, ranging from pebbles to pears. Transmissions were destroyed by the heavy gale, and lightning struck in a couple of places, killing one and injuring 10 others in the process.

The devastation all around was so immense that the State Cabinet the next day realised that over 15,425 houses were damaged, with all of them having their tin roofs punctured by the hundreds. A few houses were also toppled. Soon it was declared that the state had sanctioned a sum of Rs 6.90 crore from the disaster relief fund and had empowered the Deputy Commissioners to make the distribution once an assessment had been done. The damage district-wise was put at Imphal West district 6,053, Imphal East district 3,600, Bishenpur district 1,179, Thoubal district 800, Kakching district 120,200 in Ukhrul district, 130 in Tengnoupal district 120 in Noney district, 100 in Kamjong district, 540 in Churachandpur district, 292 in Kangpokpi district, 16 in Chandel district, and 256 in Tamenglong district. The distribution was pegged at 5 lakhs for the valley districts and 4 lakhs for the hill districts each.

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But the next day, long queues of lines were seen outside shops selling CGI sheets, with people lining up from pre-dawn. Soon rumours that the shops have run out of stocks did the rounds, and news that prices have been jacked up by five hundred rupees per bundle. Soon, student groups had fanned out and forced the shop owners to return the excess amount that they had charged the customers. Soon, the Deputy Commissioners came to the scene and declared that the prices that had last stood one month ago could not be changed and warned of dire consequences if found otherwise.

But when the assessment began, it was mixed up with politics. The first group to fan out were the workers of the local BJP MLAs. Keeping in mind that the elections to the Parliament were just over, the BJP workers thought of revenge on their opponents in politics. For instance, when BJP strongman and minister Th. Biswajit reigned, his workers reportedly told a known Congress-supporting family to get their relief from Bimol, meaning the Congress candidate in the last parliamentary elections. And the next day, when the official team from the office of the Deputy Commissioner came, this particular person and a few others in the locality were skipped from the inspection and assessment. So much for fair play.

The Manipur Pradesh Committee President, K. K. Meghachandra, also demanded that financial assistance be meted out to families who are victims of the calamity and also said that when contacted, the officials did not know how to make the assessments. He also demanded that the calamity be declared a national disaster. He also added that the sum of Rs 6.9 crore was too little and wrote to the Prime Minister demanding a relief package of Rs 200 crore. Soon, chief minister N. Biren Singh began touring the affected areas, making a personal assessment of the problem first hand.It was also soon discovered that more than 500 hectares of standing horticultural crops have been damaged, affecting more than 1000 farmers, according to K. Devdutta Sharma, director of Horticulture and Soil Conservation.

And on the ongoing ethnic war between the Kukis and the Meiteis, which began on 3 May 2023, and has been ongoing for more than a year, the three Member Commissions of Inquiry instituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India have so far received 11,000 affidavits. This was stated to a section of the media by a senior officer of the MHA recently. The Court of Inquiry was established in November 2023 by the Government of India and asked members of the public to submit statements, allegations, or complaints in the form of an affidavit. The majority of the complaints were filed by individuals, while a few were from civil society organisations. The affidavits were made before oath commissioners or notary officers, for which the complainants do not have to pay a single rupee.

The Court of Inquiry is being headed by Ajai Lamba, former Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court, along with Himangshu Shekar Das IAS (Retd) and Alokar Prabhakar (IPS Retd). It has also examined all the affidavits and said that soon responses would be sought from the Government of Manipur and the Government of India. The main office is located in Delhi, with a field office in Imphal. It is also questionable if adequate administrative measures were taken to prevent the violence and riots, and the historical aspects are also being examined. At least 221 people were killed, and more than 50,000 were displaced. And at least 36 Meiteis have not been traced till now, and their relatives are seeking closure for their missing cases.

In the meantime, a total of 5,457 illegal immigrants from Myanmar have been detected in Kamjong District, bordering Myanmar, and their biometric readings have been taken, according to Chief Minister N.Biren Singh. Taking it to X, he said that the detection was as of 7 May 2024. He also added that 77 illegal immigrants have already been deported back to Myanmar.Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the complete boundary between India and Myanmar will be fenced up and the Free Movement Regime that has been existing since independence will be scrapped. All this is with a view to curbing illegal immigrants entering the country from that country, CM Biren Singh also added.

And also, a heavy exchange of fire took place yesterday across the border in Myanmar at Myo Thit, near the international border in Kamjong. The firefight was suspected between members of the anti-Myanmarese government, the People’s Defence Force and the Kuki National Front on one side, and the Manipur-based People’s Liberation Army (PLA), now stationed there. The PF-KNF side is reported to have sustained high casualties, with over 30 killed and many injured, and a huge cache of arms recovered from their side.

The writer is a senior journalist at The Statesman