People of Pallel pack their lives in vehicles and desert the town seeking shelter at the face of violence and danger

It has been over four months since violence first broke out in Manipur, inflicting irreparable losses upon the people of the strife-torn state. Hundreds of lives were lost, several hundred injured, and thousands displaced, reeling with the unimaginable pain of separation from their own land. However, amidst the chaos, the quaint little town of Pallel, which acts as a buffer between Morey and Imphal remained seemingly unaffected by the ethnic clashes. Things changed on September 8, when the town witnessed its first spate of violence, heavily punctuated by gun firing that left at least two dead and several others injured.

When NTT visited the town a day after the chaos, they saw that the people, consumed by panic, helpless and hapless, bundled up their belongings, piled them up on vehicles, and were fleeing the village in search of a safe haven, deserting their land and hoping to be back when the dust settles.

Nurul Islam, 55, has been running a grocery shop in Pallel for the past 24 years. A resident of Phoubakchao, 30kms away from his area of business Pallel, he was compelled to make his way back to his shop after the violence on September 8 and pack and transport every last thing of his shop to the safety of his home. “We heard about the violence, gun firing, and killings and decided to take all our stuff to the safety of our home, and come back with everything once the chaos dies down”, said Nurul while loading the contents of his shop onto a truck.

Taken aback by the mayhem at the very doorstep of his shop, Nurul the sole bread earner of his family had to take the hard decision of saving his livelihood and moving it to safety. “Never in 24 years have we seen such violence in Pallel. It has been four months since violence broke out in Manipur, with no signs of it abating, we don’t know when this will end. We are scared, we have to save our things, this is what our livelihood depends on. Once things go back to normal, we really hope to come back to our shop and resume business”, said a worker at Nurul’s shop. Nurul isn’t the only one being displaced from his area of business, several others like him share the prospect of a future shrouded by uncertainty.

Several communities such as the Pangals, Nagas harmoniously co-existed in Pallel for years, and the region was unaffected by the violence that broke out in Manipur on May 3. However, things changed on September 8, when the ripples of crude violence made their way to Pallel, unleashing a terror tale that the people of this region are now reeling with.

Much like Nurul, WS Damte, an elderly lady of 61 has to leave her home in Pallel. On Friday, a gunfight had erupted right in front of her house and she decided to leave her house to move to a destination unknown, for the safety and security of her only daughter Neha. “We have to leave Pallel because it is dangerous to stay here. Only yesterday firing broke out here. Firing started at around 3 pm. We heard a very loud noise, could be a bomb, so, for our safety, we have to leave this place”, said Damte’s daughter Neha. Upon being asked about the destination of their temporary refuge, she said, “We don’t know where we are going. We just want to leave this place and cross the boundary as soon as possible.”

Consumed by emotions, Damte failed to string comprehensible sentences, for she was born and raised on this land, married here, and raised her children, this very place holds the memories of her deceased husband. She now has to pack all 61 years of her life in a trunk and leave her house in search of safe shelter. Tears welled in her eyes as she carefully locked her house and boarded her entire life onto a vehicle.

Several people of Pallel share the same fate as Nurul and Damte, collecting the mundanities of their daily life together, packing all they possibly can, and moving to a new destination not marred by violence and uncertainty.