‘My house torched, lost everything we earned in violence’: Indian footballer from Manipur

Chinglensana Singh said he flew back to Manipur after managing to establish contact with his parents.

Indian footballer Chinglensana Singh, who belongs to Manipur, claimed that he has lost almost everything in the ethnic violence that has engulfed the northeastern state for about three months, news agency PTI reported.

Manipur footballer Chinglensana Singh.

The day violence broke out, Chinglensana was playing for Hyderabad FC in an AFC Cup play-off (Asian continental tournament) match against Mohun Bagan in Kerala’s Kozhikode. When he entered the dressing room following the match, Singh said his phone was flooded with text messages and calls, which is how he found out about the violence.

"It has taken away everything from us, everything we earned, everything we had," Chinglensana, who hails from Churachandpur district’s Khumujama Leikai, told PTI. “I heard the news of our house being torched and then the football turf that I built in Churachandpur was burnt. It was really heartbreaking.”

‘We will start again’

The 27-year-old player said he flew back to Manipur after managing to establish contact with his parents. "I had the big dream of providing a platform to the youngsters but it was taken away. Fortunately, my family escaped the violence and was shifted to a relief centre," he said, adding, “...But we will start again.”

Having lost everything, Chinglensana and his family, like thousands of other displaced people in the northeastern state, look for ways to overcome the disturbing experience, and start afresh.

Ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on May 3 during a rally organised by the All Tribals Students Union (ATSU) to protest against the demand for the inclusion of Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list.

The violence, which has killed about 140 people so far in the state, has also become a political flashpoint between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Opposition. This continues to plague the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament, operations of which remained disrupted since its inception on July 20 amid the Opposition parties’ demand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi address both Houses on the issue, followed by a discussion on it.