Eleven months of conflict, over 50,000 displaced people and an anti-poll sentiment among few – the Election Commission in violence-hit Manipur is gearing up for the challenging task of holding Lok Sabha elections in the state where the poll scene is muted.

Chief Electoral Officer, Pradeep Kumar Jha said over 24,500 displaced people have been identified as eligible to vote in the upcoming elections and special arrangements have been made for them to cast their franchise from relief camps.

“A total of 2,955 polling stations will be set up in the state for the Lok Sabha elections, out of which around 50 per cent have been identified as sensitive, vulnerable or critical. We are also setting up 94 special polling stations to facilitate voting by internally displaced persons (IDPs),” Jha told PTI.

As per Election Commission of India (ECI) norms, a vulnerability mapping of hamlets, villages and electoral segments vulnerable for threat and intimidation, is conducted ahead of polls.

“Special teams have been formed to deal with these voters with empathy and we have also started voter awareness activities. The activities are being designed keeping in mind the sentiments of the displaced people who have lost the comfort of being in their home and there is some level of frustration and negativity,” he added.

At least 219 people have been killed in the ethnic strife in the state that started on May 3 last year after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

A majority of over 50,000 internally displaced people are currently staying at relief centres across five valley districts and three hill districts.

Scheduled in two phases on April 19 and 26, the Lok Sabha elections in Manipur have garnered attention for the displaced population’s voting arrangements.

Several civil society groups and the affected people have been questioning the relevance of elections in the strife-torn state. There have been calls from several quarters about boycotting the polls too.

Sharing the statistics, Jha said there are over 20 lakh voters in the state and women voters outnumber the men voters.

“The state has traditionally been seeing a very high voting percentage in the previous elections, which is reflective of people’s faith in the electoral process. Even if some people are feeling negative about it, we are trying to create awareness about making each vote count and taking some confidence building measures,” he said.

Asked about the security arrangements for the polls, Jha said over 200 companies of paramilitary forces have been allocated to the state.

“The idea is not only to ensure that the displaced voters do not miss out on the chance but also that they feel safe. Adequate security arrangements are being made across the state. Video surveillance has already begun and the entry and exit points are being monitored…it is obvious to have concerns about security considering the conflict in the state, however, these concerns are being addressed,” he said.

Posters of political parties, mega rallies and visible movement of leaders – the traditional elements of campaigning – are conspicuously missing in violence-hit Manipur where polling for Lok Sabha elections is due in less than two weeks.

The only visible hint of the impending election is the hoardings put up by local election authorities, urging citizens to exercise their franchise.

Amid the muted election scene, major party figures have refrained from visiting the conflict-ridden state to canvass for votes or make electoral pledges.

Jha admitted that the campaign is low-key in the state but maintained there are no restrictions from the EC.

“There are no restrictions from the Election Commission’s side on campaigning. Anything which is within the boundaries of the model code of conduct is allowed,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

At a relief camp in Thoubal district of Manipur, which shelters 210 people, some women are engrossed in learning a new art. In the violence-hit northeastern state, one of the many challenges for internally displaced people living in relief camps is the means to earn a livelihood. And this new vocation of crocheting ‘amigurumi’ dolls by the women living in these camps to make a living has come as a ray of hope.

Amigurumi is the Japanese art of crocheting small stuffed toys.

A Singapore-based firm ‘1 Million Heroes’ has taken up the responsibility to train women in relief camps across Manipur on how to crochet these dolls. The training is being imparted in five relief camps for now.

Laishram Geeta Leima, 36, mother of three, is one of the trainees pinning her hope on crocheting for the short-term livelihood of her family. She had to flee for safety when her village in Sugnu Awang Leikai in Kakching district was attacked on May 27 this year. She sees hope in the art of crochet as it is easy to master and is quite productive.

“As we’re here at this relief camp, we’ve no means of livelihood. The problem is compounded with having to look after my kids. During these dark times, the “1 Million Heroes” team came to train us to crochet amigurumi dolls as a livelihood alternative for us. I’ve almost mastered it. We’re very happy we’ve acquired these new skills. We’re told they are chalking out ways to get us revenue out of these dolls,” said Geeta Leima.

The training teams of the Singapore-based firm have been visiting relief camps in Manipur, training interested people and providing them with templates and raw materials since August. Their target is to train these people to specialize in each of the five characters conceived as the first line of the global amigurumi doll brand: Buddy- the pet Dog, Mitten- the Cat, Raja – the Tiger, Oliver -the Bear and Bola – the Buddy.

Utpala Longjam, one of the trainers, while describing the program as a success, said, “Crochet is not very difficult if you know the basics. Most of them knew the basics. All we had to do was teach them the pattern and the right way to go about it. They’re picking it up pretty well. Once they become comfortable with the needle, the crochet and the patterns, we will be providing them with the cotton yarns for the actual product.”

At such times when bitter memories of loss and violence have taken up space in the lives of the displaced people living in Manipur relief camps, doll-making is also a deviation helping in improving their mental health.

Agom Sangeeta Leima, 48, a resident of Sugnu town in Manipur, whose village was attacked on May 28, said the doll-making program has boosted her confidence by showing her a way to overcome financial challenges. “I’m participating in this training program hoping to earn some income. They came to help us out and train us. We readily accepted.”

Monish Karam, the founder of ‘1 Million Heroes’, while talking about how this project started, said, “I was living in Singapore when the violence started in May. We wanted to do something for the people back home to help rebuild their lives. We were brainstorming what to do. We wanted to do something very sustainable. So, the best idea we could come up with is to do something where we can use our own skills. Our women are quite good in handicrafts and handlooms. And that is something we wanted to take leverage of. We realised that we could create something creative. Then the idea of dolls came and eventually narrowed down to crochet dolls. And these dolls are not mere dolls. We believe they are the symbol of hope and vessels of storytelling.”

The major part of the production and sales of the project has been taken up by ‘I Million Heroes’. This includes design, market research, supply of raw materials, tools and implements, branding, marketing and even sales. The trainees in Manipur relief camps only have to make the dolls and most proceeds of the sales will go to them.

Manipur State Rural Livelihoods Mission (MSRLM) of the Manipur Government has also organised different livelihoods activities and training programmes, such as making incense sticks, detergent-making, liquid dish wash making, cocoon reeling, making scrunchies and paper bags for the internally displaced persons sheltered in relief camps. Nearly 184 people in the Imphal East district alone were benefited by way of wages through these programmes.

PK Jha, Commissioner of Trade, Commerce and Industries with the Manipur government, assured that the Manipur Handloom and Handicraft Corporation will buy all the products made in the relief camps and pay them immediately. He also said that the sale proceeds will go to the people who are the actual creators of the products.

The ongoing violence in Manipur has so far killed 175 people, injured at least 1,108 persons, 4,786 houses set on fire and over 50,000 persons displaced internally.

Imphal:

An unsuspecting village comes under attack. Line pencil sketch of unarmed villagers come out to thwart off the advancing armed miscreants approaching the village on armoured vehicles, each with mounted automatic weapons firing away, depicted by a series of dashes, signifying bullets flying towards the opponent side.

Village guards are seen putting up a fight, retaliating from the cover of a bunker. The violence is happening in the foothills of four sloping green mountains with a yellow sun shining bright in the sky.

This pencil sketch was made by an eight-year-old boy, Khamba (name changed), whose house in Manipur’s Churachandpur was completely set on fire on May 3.

Since then, Khamba and his widowed mother had been evacuated to Imphal and compelled to live in a relief camp. Khamba has made many such drawings, indicating the trauma he had experienced when his village came under attack and subsequently burnt down to ashes by armed miscreants in Churachandpur.

According to the Manipur Social Welfare Department data, over 12,600 displaced children are living in relief camps across the state, and out of them 100 are severely traumatised, needing professional counselling.

“A child may not be traumatised immediately. But that trauma can come up after a week or a month. What we have been doing is – initially our counsellors will visit the relief camps. Whenever they find such severely traumatized children, they will be identified, and taken to professional counsellors. We’ve done this for little more than 100 children. We hope that this number does not increase and these traumatised children can go back to normal very soon,” said Ngangom Uttam Singh, Director, Social Welfare Department.

To look after mental health of the displaced children, counsellors are deployed through District Children Protection Offices in every district. They visit children homes and relief camps to identify children who require professional help.

The department has a team of medical practitioners and child psychiatrists working as volunteers who aid in providing counselling to those who are severely traumatised.

Child Psychiatrist Dr Jina Heigrujam, who has visited several relief camps to identify children having PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder, explains why professional counselling is essential to avoid a mental health issues from developing. According to Dr Heigrujam, art and dance therapy are the best techniques that work well with children to get them out of their traumatic experience.

“If stress is prolonged and a child isn’t able to adjust to it, many mental health issues can happen. The most common is post-traumatic stress disorder or depression in childhood or anxiety. In order to help them, we’ve dived deep into the layers to understand how badly they are affected. To do this there are lots of techniques. One of them that works well with children is art therapy,” the child psychiatrist said.

The Social Welfare Department personnel went to relief camps in Wangjing at Thoubal district to identify stress affected children.

These personnel are trained to screen for severely traumatised children by a team from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru.

At the Lamding relief camp in Thoubal district, where internally displaced residents of Moreh and Serou are sheltered, the specialists identified three-year-old Yaiphaba (name changed) as a traumatised child.

Unlike other children of his age and locality, Yaiphaba refused to join in group activities. He is visibly frightened and clings to his aunt. Even luring him with toys and colour pencils do not work. He tightens his hold on his aunt as if sensing danger.

All this while, the other kids in the Lamding camp were dancing to a happy tune following the steps of the child specialists. Yaiphaba eases a little when his mother arrives and holds him. Gradually, he gets drawn to the general mood of fun and frolic.

According to Yaiphaba’s mother, there was a turmoil in their house on the night of May 3 at Moreh when 50-60 people from the locality rushed into their house to take shelter after violence broke out. Miscreants burnt selective shops and houses, she said. The attack affected young Yaiphaba.

“Before the incident, he wasn’t afraid of people, but after the incident whenever there are gatherings of people, especially strangers, he keeps saying he is afraid. He has also become reluctant to speak,” his worried mother said.

Another cause of concern that the Social Welfare Department is looking to address is the status of the relief camps for “child friendliness”. As the relief camps are unplanned and set up on a need basis, a UNICEF team, which visited the state, provided a blueprint for setting up children-friendly relief camps. The department is looking into this crucial need.

Manipur Chief Secretary Dr Vineet Joshi and officials have been visiting relief camps in both the hill and valley districts to check the conditions of children living there. He also flew to Churachandpur district and spent time with children.