COMMUNAL DEPRIVATIONS OF ESSENTIAL MEDICAL GOODS CLAIM ANOTHER INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSON’S LIFE
On the evening of August 21, 2024 an IDP woman was reported to have died from childbirth at the District Hospital in Lamka. Local newspapers have identified the deceased as Hoineilhing (34) w/o Hollet from Khamenlok village, Saikul Sub Division, Kangpokpi. It was reported that the deceased woman had taken refuge at T Gamnom Relief Camp under Saikul Sub-Division following the Meitei militants raid on the Khamenlok-Aigejang village clusters on June 13, 2023. Due to the lack of proper medical facilities in Kangpokpi district, she was shifted to Lamka District Hospital for her childbirth. Her demise has now taken the death toll of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Lamka alone to over 75 by the time of this report.
The factoring cause behind the high incidences of death due to ill health is attributed to the impoverished conditions of the IDPs. The lack of income to procure medicines and the dilapidated living conditions they are currently in coupled with the recent halting of the free medicines and health scheme (PMJAY & CMHT) due to the lack of continued funding from the government, have aggravated their conditions. Though regular checkups are reported to have been undertaken by the local medical officials, the lack and absence of regular supply of affordable medical goods have rendered them into a cycle of health issues. A majority of these preventable deaths could have been tackled had it not been for the continuing illegal embargo of medical goods and equipment coming from the rest of India through Imphal along the NH 2. Little medical supplies could only reach Lamka under the protection of the central forces convoys.
Besides the NH2, the only alternative routes are through the ravaged and rugged NH 102B (Guite Road) and the NH 150 (Tipaimukh Road) both of which suffer from constant landslides and the monsoon-induced road erosion. Grievous medical conditions like cancer, kidney failures, heart problems, and their kinds could only be treated by undertaking the day-long journey towards Mizoram, the journey itself taking a toll on the sick and elderly. The central government has provided a bi-weekly helicopter service for Lamka-Aizawl, a service that is constantly hindered by demand-supply constraints, weather and geography. This weaponization of geography by the communal radical Meitei elements in the Valley and their continuing year-long embargo has subjected the lives of over 2.7 lakh Indian citizens to medical risk and their basic fundamental rights to life.
An article by Behan Box dated July 16, 2024 titled “Blockades Are Putting Lives Of Women, Children At Risk In Manipur’s Relief Camps” will give more comprehensive insight into the plight of the IDPs languishing in the relief camps across Southern Manipur in Lamka.
Another concise article by the Indian Express dated August 14, 2023 titled “ I’ve left it to God: Imphal out of reach for many, Manipur’s healthcare system is faltering” gives a distraught condition and the difficulties of patients with life-threatening illnesses in Lamka and the life-threatening positioning imposed on them to their right to medical treatment by the Meitei blockade.
In Photo: Relief Camp in Lamka