Manipur: About 200 babies born in shelters for displaced

Cradling her baby born in a shelter for the displaced in Manipur, Hatneu says she has named her daughter Nganthoibi which aptly means shining light.

Dispelling some of the darkness of 11 months of conflict and continuing uncertainty, Nganthoibi is one of the 200 babies born to displaced women who have taken shelter in different relief camps across the state.

For the women like Hatneu, the last months have been unforgettable. Not just because their lives were upended when violence broke out in Manipur last year in May but because they welcomed their newborns.

“When I held my twins in my arms, all my miseries melted away,” a 26-year-old woman at a relief camp in Kakching district told PTI, requesting not to be identified or photographed.

Her twin boys are now four months old. “When they grow up, I will tell them these stories.”

“This is an unforgettable period for me for a different reason and I want to remember it as such years later. I don’t want any memory of this period to haunt my children when they grow up,” she said.

When she landed at the relief camp, she knew it was going to be very tough. “Pregnancy is a period when we are told to take extra care of ourselves, not do any heavy-lifting, not take stress, and eat well. However, for me this period was all about survival.”

Hatneu, who found shelter at a camp in Churachandpur, the epicentre of the violence then, ran a bamboo goods shop in Imphal valley.

“I am a Kuki but I have always lived in the Valley only. We were forced to relocate here due to circumstances. Last month I gave birth to my baby at a nearby health facility. I have named my baby girl Nganthoibi, which means shining light,” she said.

Hatneu said at least 15 babies have been born in her camp.

PTI visited six relief camps in the Meiti-dominated Imphal Valley and Kuki-zo dominated Churachandpur district. According to official estimates, at least 200 children were born in the six camps. Over 280 relief camps are operational across the state.

The hill state has witnessed sporadic, sometimes intense, ethnic clashes since May 3 last year between the majority Meitei community and Kukis, resulting in loss of over

200 lives. While Meiteis population is concentrated in Imphal city, Kukis have shifted to the hills.pti