For ISRO staffer at Manipur relief camp, Chandrayaan is joy amid trauma

When millions of people across the world were glued to their mobile or TV screens watching Chandrayaan-3 make history on August 23 evening, Leichombam James was desperately waiting for some news from his colleagues at ISRO. He wanted updates about the fate of their beloved mission.

It was an irony of fate that while people across the country celebrated the picture-perfect touchdown, James, who dedicated more than a decade of his life and career to India’s moon mission, did not get to participate in that moment of ecstasy. Because, neither does his phone have an Internet connection, nor does the relief camp in Manipur he calls home these days have a television set or cable connection.

It was only when his friends at ISRO in Bengaluru called him up and told him about the smooth landing that James was able to celebrate the success with his parents and the other residents of the relief camp at Leimaram in Bishnupur district. “The people in the relief camp did not know much about Chandrayaan-3. A friend informed me that the spacecraft had landed smoothly on the lunar surface. Despite the trauma of losing a home in ethnic violence, the news brought a spark of joy to me. I told my parents and the other camp residents about the moon mission. It was such a proud moment for India and the world! The mission has inspired so many people to scale new heights in the field of science,” James gushed.

James has been working in the non-technical section of ISRO since 2013. He has an MBA degree and is posted in the financial disbursement section of ISRO for procuring materials required for spacecraft. Even when Chandrayaan-3 was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on July 14, he was on duty. But by then, his home state had already been burning for over two months. And, his parents had already taken shelter in a relief camp. Finally, James took leave from work and returned to Manipur to help his parents. He is yet to rejoin work.

A night of terror

It was around 4.30 pm on May 3 that James got the first panic-stricken calls from his parents, telling him about a possible outbreak of violence in their neighbourhood in Churachandpur town. Soon after, in the evening, James got the information that the Kukis, with whom they had lived side by side for years, had started attacking his community, the Meiteis, who are a minority in the district. Even over the phone, he could hear gunshots, cries for help, and the sound of mayhem.

Even though he was concerned for the safety of his parents, James did not leave for home immediately. He kept calling his parents from time to time. They ran for their lives and took shelter in a Meitei home, which was later attacked as well. Then, they abandoned it and took shelter with some Gangte tribe members. Later, they moved to a school building. On a single night, they shifted three different buildings.

Initially, they waited for security forces to arrive at the school building. But realising that no help was forthcoming, they decided to walk to an Assam Rifles camp around 1 km away. Around a thousand people had already taken shelter in the school building by then and they all walked together to the Assam Rifles camp. James’ parents are yet to get over the trauma of that night and of the following days before they moved out of the district. Miles away, James was spending sleepless nights worrying about his parents. 

The task of rebuilding lives

Finally, James left for Manipur on August 21 to join his parents at the relief camp. It is a school building where around 100 Meiteis from Churachandpur have taken shelter. Internet facility is yet to be fully restored in Manipur, and only the broadband connection is working. James faces the huge task of rebuilding his house. But more importantly, he has the mammoth task of rebuilding the relationship he had with the Kukis in Churachandpur, which has been destroyed by the violence. He is in touch with only a few of his friends from the other tribe.

But James hasn’t been idle. He has taken up the task of instilling hope among the residents of the relief camp and helping them overcome the trauma. He has been meeting stakeholders and taking the camp residents to training centres for making pickles, fruit juice, banana chips, and the like for therapeutic engagement, as well as a means of livelihood. He also spends quality time with the children at the camp. Two boys are quite passionate about football and James wants local footballers to come out and help the kids develop their skills, which would help them heal too.

At the same time, he worries about who would take his place when he moves back to Bengaluru to resume work at ISRO from September 2. He will join his wife Chingakham Praneshwari and brother-in-law Chingakham Pratap, who also work in the non-technical division in ISRO. And they are not the only ones from Manipur to be working for the elite space research organisation. Scientists Dr Ningthoujam Raghu, Hidam Rajiv, and Y Bishal Singha played active roles in the Chandrayaan-3 success. Luckily for them, their neighbourhoods were not affected by the violence that has torn the state apart since May 3 despite the deployment of 60,000 armed forces personnel in the state.

The tragedy that has unfolded since then has left more than 60,000 people from both communities internally displaced and around 160 dead. At first, the conflict was blamed on the Schedule Tribe status demanded by the Meiteis; later, the blame was shifted to the influx of illegal immigrants from Myanmar. In the meantime, the Kukis have demanded a separate administration; the Parliament monsoon session came to a halt for days and even a no-confidence motion was raised on the Manipur issue. Yet, nearly four months on, the state is still looking for answers and a solution.

Yet, Manipur has been slowly limping back to normalcy. And it’s partly because of people like Leichombam James who have refused to let negativity take hold of their lives and chosen to instil hope and optimism among the people instead.