IMPHAL, Oct 30: Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from various relief camps across Manipur have strongly condemned the state government’s decision to go ahead with the upcoming Sangai Festival, branding it a “facade of peace” that masks the ongoing displacement and suffering of thousands of affected families.
Addressing a press conference at the Manipur Press Club, Naba Ningthoujam, Co-convenor of the Churachandpur Meitei United Committee—a conglomerate of five organisations based in Churachandpur—criticised the government for prioritising a festival over humanitarian rehabilitation.
“The government should stop all preparations for the Sangai Festival until the IDPs are safely resettled. Celebrating a festival of peace while we remain homeless is an insult to our suffering,” Ningthoujam said, lamenting the lack of visible progress toward the government’s promise to resettle IDPs by December.
Echoing similar concerns, Leishangthem Brojendro, Secretary of the Meitei Council Moreh, questioned the government’s claim of normalcy. “People mistake the silence of gunshots as peace. This is not peace—we are still in conflict. The Sangai Festival is being used to fool the people by creating an illusion that peace has returned,” he remarked, calling the event a “propaganda exercise” to downplay ongoing insecurity and displacement.
Toijam Sarat Meitei, another IDP representative, also denounced the government’s priorities. “The Sangai Festival is meant to protect the deer, but what about human lives? The IDPs are living like animals in relief camps—without dignity, without stability,” he said, accusing the government of attempting to project a false narrative that the Meitei–Kuki conflict has ended.
The IDPs collectively urged both the Central and State governments to halt all Sangai Festival preparations until genuine peace is restored and displaced families are rehabilitated. They warned that if the government proceeds with the festival, they will boycott the event and call upon the public to stand in solidarity with those still suffering in relief camps.
