The Manipur High Court has taken up a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking intervention in a humanitarian crisis at Kwatha village in Tengnoupal district.
A humanitarian crisis for the people of the village in Kwatha is because of the violence the state has been facing for the last seven months.
Kwatha is the last Meitei village in the Tengnoupal district bordering Myanmar on the south. This small village with a population of 370 is facing untold hardships due to the ongoing communal strife in the state.
While the Meiteis residing in Moreh fled from their homestead amid the communal clashes, the Meiteis in Kwatha, about 20 km from Moreh, are still guarding their territory. At these critical hours, the Meiteis in Kwatha are facing untold hardships as they are cut off from the rest of the state. Kwatha Meitei village is surrounded by the six Kuki villages.
“Because of ethnic violence, the Kwatha villagers are not able to sell any products from the village, thereby curtailing their livelihood. On other hand, the students as well as others from Kwatha village, who were living outside in other parts of the state and elsewhere are not able to return and go back to the village and also receive any money from their home thereby putting them in a pitiful condition”, the PIL states.
To address their issues the High Court of Manipur has allowed a PIL filed by Kongjengbam Chingkham of Singjamei, Imphal.
The PIL states that the villagers are unable to enter or go out of their village owing to the current tension between the Meiteis and the Kukis that started on May 3, 2023.
The Court was fixed to hear the PIL on January 24, 2024; Advocate Naorem Umakanta Singh and his associates appeared on behalf of the petitioner.
Kwatha village is located almost adjacent to the border between India and Myanmar in Tengnoupal district. It is a remote and underdeveloped village, which lies about 80Km from the state capital Imphal and about 6km from Moreh.
