Imphal, April 16 2009: When will Operation Summer Storm get over and the villagers be able to go back to resume their normal life has become the only thought that lingers in the minds of the displaced people of Khordak and Nongmaikhong, even as the Relief Committee has ridiculed the claim of the PIB Defence Wing that the ongoing operation is an 'operation with humane face'.

With the whirring sound of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) and helicopter from the sky and the thundering sound of bombing and firing on the surface keeping them restless day and night since the Army operation on last Saturday night, the people of the two villagers have left behind their homesteads to take shelter in the makeshift relief camps set up in the neighbouring villages.

Around 2500 displaced villagers are putting up in the relief camps set up by local clubs and other voluntary organisations at Ithai, Arong and Tera Khunou while many others have sought asylum with their friends and relatives.

Since the launch of the Army operation, none of the children have been going to their schools to attend classes.

Keeping aside the issues of fooding, lodging and health of the displaced villagers, they have also been deprived of their livelihood for the last few days.

Giving an account of the problems being faced by them, Chaobi Devi, who is taking shelter in a relief camp at Tera Khunou, said dejectedly, 'We don't know what to do .

Our mental faculties have become numbed.

we can't eat or sleep''.

She went on to inform that now is the peak working season for plantation of Angan Phou (paddy variety which yields earlier).

But none of the villagers dare to go out and work in the field with bullets flying everywhere.

She also pointed out that Keibul Lamjao National Park who has been kept surrounded by the Army is the only source of livelihood not only for the people of Khordak and Nongmaikhong but also of the neighbouring villages.

Reacting to the statement of the PIB Defence Wing which was published in this daily on its April 16 edition, Relief Committee member Kumar Singh asserted that the claim of the PIB Defence Wing that the ongoing operation is an operation with humane face is complete hogwash.

Till date Army have not extended any relief materials in any of the relief camps being set up for the displaced panic stricken villagers, Kumar disclosed, adding that claim of the PIB Defence Wing that zero collateral damage is the priority of ongoing operation and as such speculative firing was never resorted to' is also completely false and misleading.

On the contrary the Army have been carrying out uninterrupted bombing and firing, Kumar asserted, adding that in such a situation, the possible of casualty on the endangered species of Sangai is very high.

On the other hand, representatives of the Apunba Lup have met the displaced villagers and distributed relief assistance among them.

UCM, ACOAM-Lup, AMAWOVA and other like-minded social organisations have also followed suit in coming to the assistance of the displaced villagers.

Leaders of some political parties or their representatives have also reportedly visited the relief camps.

Among them MLA Dr Th Ratankumar and MLA E Dwijamani visited the relief camp at Arong and interacted with the displaced villagers while on behalf of the CPI candidate for the Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency noted playwright Ranjit Ningthouja distributed relief materials.

At the sites where the relief camps are being set up, Wakat Meephams were also staged with placards inscribed with slogans like 'Stop Operation Summer Storm', 'Give us our human rights', 'We will boycott Lok Sabha election', etc.

Similar protest demonstration was also staged at Sekmaijin Bazar.

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