The road from Imphal to Bishnupur is busy this morning with returning families, their belongings piled on small trucks. Six months after the worst of the conflict, the rhythm of normal life has begun to return.
What is striking is not the scale of destruction, but the scale of quiet, organised rebuilding that has taken its place.
Grassroots organisations have been leading the effort. Among them, the Manipur Reconciliation Network has emerged as a particularly effective force.
The Network now coordinates with 47 villages across three districts, managing reconstruction funds, dispute resolution, and inter-community dialogue.
What it has accomplished in six months would have been thought impossible a year ago.
“We are not waiting for the government to come. We are doing it ourselves.”
— N. Devi