Manipur Congress backs displaced families and civil society opposition to Sangai Festival

The Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) has extended its support to internally displaced people (IDPs) and civil society organisations opposing the state government's plan to hold the Sangai Festival from November 21. 

The party said celebrating a grand festival amid ongoing suffering in relief camps would be insensitive and misplaced.

Responding to media queries on the Congress party’s stand, MPCC president Keisham Meghachandra said thousands of displaced people have been living in distress since the onset of the current crisis, and yet the state government has shown little progress on their resettlement despite announcing plans to send them back to their native areas by December. The ground reality, he said, remains unchanged and unfortunate.

Meghachandra stressed that resettlement remains the most urgent and primary demand of IDPs. Instead of addressing their plight, he said, the government appears more interested in organising the Sangai Festival. Expressing solidarity with the displaced, he said the MPCC fully supports their stand against the celebration.

He added that the government’s priority should be to restore lasting peace and rehabilitate the displaced families in their respective localities, not to host a festival while people continue to suffer.