‘We are not outsiders’, rue Manipuris who took refuge outside state

Imphal/New Delhi: “Don’t treat us like outsiders”. Forced to leave their state after clashes broke out last year, that’s the impassioned plea from Manipuris who fled to other parts of the country to escape the violence and long to vote in the Lok Sabha election but can’t because there is no such provision.

Displaced people living in relief camps in conflict-hit Manipur will be able to vote in the upcoming elections beginning April 19. However, there is no such arrangement for those outside the state unable to return home because they feel it’s still not safe. And officials say getting them to vote is just not feasible.

Manipur has traditionally seen a very high voter turnout with more than 82 per cent polling recorded in the 2019 elections. This time, the ethnic violence has cast a shadow with several civil society groups and displaced people questioning the relevance of holding elections in the current circumstances.

As leaders of both the Kuki-Zo and Meitei groups take up the issue with the Election Commission, those who took shelter outside the state say they have stakes in the future of Manipur.