Festival Season In Crisis-Hit Manipur, Though Muted, Brings Hope For Peace

Manipur: Visuals on social media show some children in relief camps holding sheets of paper on which they have written "This Diwali, we don't have a home to decorate" and "This Diwali, I don't have clothes to wear", among other messages

The ethnic violence in Manipur has muted festivities amid Diwali and Ningol Chakouba, one of the most important festivals in the valley areas where a majority of the Meitei community lives. The hill-majority Kuki tribes are also looking forward to celebrating Christmas next month.

But with thousands of people from both communities internally displaced following the ethnic clashes that started on May 3, the people are tired and no one wants to celebrate Diwali or Ningol Chakouba on an empty stomach, under a roof that doesn't exist, or without loved ones who were killed in the violence.

Ningol Chakouba, which the Meitei community celebrates after Diwali, is similar to Bhai Dooj except that in Manipur it is the brothers who welcome their sisters from their matrimonial homes for a grand feast.