![\"\u2018No](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-130739012,imgsize-152130,width-400,height-225,resizemode-72\/3manipurprotest-2jpg.jpg\" "\\"Kuki")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nNew Delhi:<\/span> In the last week of April 2023, Nenghoikim thought she was simply heading home to Churachandpur after work in Imphal. The schoolteacher remembers the roads feeling tense and unfamiliar. A drive that usually took an hour stretched into three.Back home, however, there was reason to celebrate. Her niece had just been born on April 30.But before the newborn could even receive proper care, Manipur changed overnight.As ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki groups intensified, her brother, sister-in-law, mother, and the three-day-old baby fled their home in Kongsai Veng, moving from a school shelter to a church as neighbourhoods came under attack. \u201cA baby that small needed medicines, rest and safety. Instead, they were just trying to survive,\u201d Nenghoikim recalled, her eyes welling up while narrating the ordeal.Days later, on May 4, her brother was allegedly killed in front of his wife, infant daughter and mother.Three years later, many like Nenghoikim say they are still waiting for justice.That sentiment was echoed by many at Jantar Mantar on Saturday as student organisations representing several indigenous hill tribes marked three years of the Manipur ethnic violence<\/a> with a protest. They alleged \u201cethnic cleansing\u201d and demanded justice, rehabilitation and accountability for the violence since May 3, 2023.At the protest site, the anger and grief were hard to miss. Posters and banners carried figures that protesters said reflected the scale of the violence, including \u201c229 deaths\u201d, \u201c360-plus churches and synagogues burnt\u201d and \u201c200-plus villages destroyed\u201d.Placards reading \u201cNo justice, no peace\u201d, \u201cTribal lives matter\u201d, \u201cStop ethnic cleansing\u201d and \u201cWe need a solution\u201d were held up during the demonstration. Speakers recounted stories of displacement, loss and trauma that continue to shape their lives three years later.Among the protesters was one of the organisers, Kuki Students\u2019 Organisation president Nengneiting Khongsai, who was in Delhi when the violence broke out in Manipur. Back in her native village in Sugnu, she said, people believed they would remain safe because of the area\u2019s history of coexistence.\u201cIn the 1990s, when the situation was tense, a Meitei MLA had protected our village. Because of that, our area remained peaceful for a long time even when other places were witnessing tension,\u201d she said.But that changed overnight.\u201cOne gunshot was heard. Nobody knew where it came from, but suddenly accusations started flying. Meiteis said it was us. My brother called and said things were turning bad. Then, overnight, the village was burnt,\u201d she said.Khongsai said the loss of her home still haunts her. \u201cI was numb. That is the only word for it,\u201d she said, adding that her family received no compensation or meaningful support. \u201cWe lost property worth lakhs. The emotional trauma has stayed.\u201dAt the protest, organisers demanded an expedited tripartite dialogue with the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and United People\u2019s Front (UPF) under the Suspension of Operations framework, seeking a separate administration for the hill tribes in the form of a Union territory with a legislature. Protesters also called for an investigation into the role of former Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh<\/a> in the violence, justice and compensation for internally displaced persons, and a probe into looted arms and ammunition from state armouries.According to the groups, around 45,000 people remain displaced and continue to live in relief camps three years after the violence. \u201cSeparation from the Meitei-dominated valley is our only hope now,\u201d a protest organiser said.<\/div>\n