After a long knock, the reluctant Government of Manipur has finally made a shrug to at least open its door 'though partially' to welcome back the hundreds of displaced Hmar villagers to their bon-a-fide land in Manipur. These Tipaimukh villagers who were displaced due to landmine threats, torture, rape, and the valley based militants' reign of terror, had been staying at designated camps in Mizoram since early 2006.

According to media reports dated June 17, 2006, the Manipur Chief Secretary Shri Jarnail Singh has been said to have notified his counterpart in the Mizoram government Chief Secretary Shri Haukhum Hauzel of the Manipur Government's decision to repatriate the Tipaimukh Hmar Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who are taking refuge in refugee camps in Mizoram.

More than a thousand traumatized Hmar villagers of Tipaimukh were displaced to the neighbouring state of Mizoram as a result of the inhumane brutality of the Meitei rebels who, then, occupy several Tipaimukh villages with the Indian Army operation against them. At the same time, the Manipur government and Indian Army's failed policy to foresee and counter the Meitei underground outfits who forcibly annexed and controlled the marginalized areas further caused immense hardships to the populace.

As per the notification issued by the Government of Manipur on repatriating the displaced Hmar villagers, the repatriation package offered to the displaced families is a paltry sum of Rs. 5000 for each displaced family and free ration for a resettlement period of four months.

The notification also intimidated that this package will be given only to those families who return to Manipur before June 30, 2006. Any displaced persons who fail to come over to Manipur within the specified timeframe will be disqualified from receiving the benefits of the repatriation package.

Media reports that this latest 'come home' message of the Manipur government is the second intimidation to the displaced Hmar villagers to return home. The first was said to be issued on May 2006 (The Sangai Express, May 21, 2006). Government officials and authorities were said to have an informal talk with the displaced people on the issue.

The daily also reported that the Manipur government, then, conveyed to the displaced villagers?assuring them special security and travel conveniences, construction of houses and to provide food grains. There was, however, no mentioning of any deadline set for the displaced families to return.

In a news item carried by an Aizawl-based newspaper on June 18, 2006, it came out that the deadline of the first request to the Hmar IDPs to return home was April 15, 2006. It is not known why the general public was kept in the dark for so long about it. And it will help to speculate that the blackout on the previous deadline may even be an attempt to further hoodwink the public.

The Government of Manipur must be preparing a safe ground to save its blunder so that the blame ultimately zeroed it on the Hmar IDPs to say that they did not want to return despite the state government?s ?repeated? assurance. It is believed that only a few officials knew about the deadline set for the Hmar IDPs to return in the first request.

Who knows, it may have been deliberately under-reported for reasons best known to other parties having interest to point a finger on them for the crisis that arise in the region.

The Government of Manipur must accept the fact that its failure to be proactive has actually led to the crises in Tipaimukh. The present situation could have been averted had the region been properly administered.

The mass rape could have been avoided, FIR could have been filed earlier and easier, the raped-tortured-maimed victims could have easily avail medical and psychological treatments, the militants'rampage in the region could have been easily checked, communication could have been easily passed across, there would not be much under-reported deaths, it would not have taken 3 and more days to reach the area from the district headquarters of Churachandpur.

Today, the villagers are compelled to go through Mizoram to reached Manipur. Even the landmine related deaths are being downplayed by the media as well as the Government of Manipur. These are just a little of the bulk issues which needs to be properly raised.

Deadlines are time limits set to achieve certain level of processes undertaken for projects. It is therefore relevant to set a deadline to accomplish tasks so that positive results are achieved. As in the case of the deadline set for the Hmar displaced people to return to their homes in Manipur, this might not be so.

Rather, it seems to be more of an ultimatum. Whether the first or the second request, the deadlines set for the Hmar IDPs are nevertheless ridiculous and an unwarranted decision by the state government of Manipur.

It is difficult to comprehend as to why the state authorities set a deadline in the first place. It would have been better had it (deadline) been for its own convenience of balancing and implementing its own failed policy.

Instead of imposing an ultimatum to the Hmar IDPs, the state authorities should commit a deadline for its own functioning as to how to properly repatriate the displaced persons, and take steps for the same and set deadline as to:

• When to completely oust the banned underground outfits taking refuge in the Tipaimukh and nearby areas from their hideouts.
• When to completely sanitize the destructive landmines and booby-traps in the whole areas and not just only in some pockets of the areas.
• When to restore the public administration which has been absent for more than a decade now.
• When to establish proper communication systems.
• When to avail the people of the region with Public Distribution System.
• When to restore and set-up Public Health Centres.
• When to restore and set-up Police Stations and Posts and deploy police forces.