States in the country have been making continuous efforts over the past few days to evacuate students who are stranded in violence-hit Manipur. Violent clashes broke out between tribals and people belonging to the majority Meitei community in Manipur on Wednesday, displacing thousands of people. The clashes erupted after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the ten hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh had on Monday said that 60 people were killed, 231 injured and 1,700 houses, including religious places, burnt in the ethnic violence that rocked the northeastern state in the past few days. Here’s a look at several states’ efforts in evacuating students from Manipur and bringing them back to their home state:
Bihar and Jharkhand
More than 100 students from Bihar were on Tuesday brought back from Manipur which has been in the throes of violence for some time. According to an official, a special flight commissioned by the Nitish Kumar government carried 142 students from Bihar, besides another 21 from the neighboring state of Jharkhand. The students from Jharkhand will be ferried to their home state by bus and the plane landed at Patna airport around noon. A sense of relief was writ large on the boys and girls who had gone to the strife-torn northeastern state to pursue higher studies. They were, however, unanimous in asserting that no student from outside Manipur was targeted during the violence.
Meghalaya
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday said more than 300 students from the state, who were stranded in violence-hit Manipur, were brought back in the last few days. Sangma also said his government had on Monday arranged for a special flight on the Imphal-Shillong route to evacuate students stuck in the trouble-torn state. The last batch of stranded students came directly from Imphal on Monday as a special flight was arranged for them, he said.
Rajasthan
Two special flights arranged by the Rajasthan government on Monday evening brought back 51 students from the state stranded in violence-hit Manipur, officials said. The state government has also made arrangements for boarding and lodging facilities for these students. On Sunday, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had said his government would bear the travel costs of students of Rajasthan returning home from the northeastern state, as he directed officials to ensure their safe return.
Maharashtra
A special flight carrying 25 students from Maharashtra who were stuck in violence-hit Manipur landed in Mumbai on Monday evening. The flight was organised by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, said an official statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). The students were shifted from Manipur to Guwahati where they boarded the flight to Mumbai.
Madhya Pradesh
A total of 24 students of Madhya Pradesh will be brought back from violence-hit Manipur in a flight to Delhi via Guwahati on Tuesday and will be subsequently flown to four cities in their home state, a senior official said. Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajesh Rajora said all these students will be flown to Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, and Gwalior on flights and the expenses will be borne by the state government. Earlier, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan talked to the students and assured them of help. Chouhan said the state government has been making all the arrangements of bringing the students back to the state from Manipur.
Haryana
The Haryana government Monday said it has made arrangements to evacuate 16 students of the state stranded in the violence-hit Manipur. Following instructions from Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, officials have commenced efforts to bring back the students to Haryana at the earliest, an official statement said. The statement quoted the Chief Secretary of Manipur as saying that all the students from Haryana are safe. According to information received so far, five students of Haryana are pursuing education at NIT-Manipur, eight at IIIT-Manipur, and three at NSU-Manipur, the government said, adding, it is considering flying these students to Delhi via Kolkata.
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu shelled out Rs 60,000 from his own pocket for the evacuation of five local students stuck in violence-hit Manipur, an official spokesperson of the government said on Monday. The Chief Minister immediately responded to an urgent text message by a stuck student and came up with the money for the students’ evacuation back home, said the spokesperson. He also instructed the state government officers to take necessary action to bring back the five students. Three of them were pursuing studies at NIT Manipur, while the other two were studying at Khumban Lampak Sports Complex, National Sports University — both in Imphal.
Sikkim
One hundred and twenty-eight students of Sikkim on Monday returned home from violence-hit Manipur, officials said. The students who were stranded in Manipur were brought home by the state government under ‘Operation Guraas’, they said. The Sikkimese students were evacuated first to Kolkata by flights on Sunday from where they were brought to Siliguri by the buses late last evening. They spent a night in the North Bengal town at the facilities arranged by the state government before boarding SNT buses on their way to the Himalayan state this morning. The Sikkimese students reached the border town of Rango in the afternoon and were taken to their respective destinations in vehicles arranged by the state government.
West Bengal
Eighteen students from West Bengal stranded in Manipur were brought back to Kolkata on Monday morning, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said. These students were pursuing BSc, MSc and PhD courses at the Central Agricultural University in Imphal, she said. After distress calls were received at the control room set up in state secretariat Nabanna, the rescue operation was started, Banerjee said. The students were brought back on a special flight arranged by the state government, and it landed at 10.15 am, she said. The cost of the travel was borne by the state government, Banerjee said.
Delhi
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said he spoke to his Manipur counterpart N Biren Singh regarding the evacuation of four students from the national capital who are stuck in the violence-hit state. Kejriwal said Singh assured him that the students would be provided all necessary help. Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said four students from Delhi are in Manipur and they will be evacuated on Tuesday.
Andhra Pradesh
The Andhra Pradesh government has arranged two special flights on Monday to fly back as many as 157 students from the state stranded in strife-torn Manipur. The flights landed at Hyderabad and Kolkata while the government made arrangements to ferry them back home from there. According to the government, 160 students from Andhra Pradesh are pursuing their education in various institutions such as NIT, IIIT and Central Agriculture University in the northeastern state. The control room set up at AP Bhavan in Delhi managed to track the whereabouts of these students, enabling the authorities to streamline evacuation efforts, said a press note shared by the state government on Monday. Further, a team of officials from AP Bhavan has been deputed to Kolkata to receive the students and assist them in taking connecting flights to Hyderabad. From Hyderabad airport in Telangana, APSRTC buses will picked up the evacuees and took them back to their respective hometowns across the state.
Mizoram
Altogether 596 people from violence-hit Manipur have fled to Mizoram and sought shelters in the state, officials said on Sunday. At least 45 students from Mizoram, who were stranded in neighbouring Manipur following the ethnic clashes there since Wednesday, returned to their state safely during the day, they said. Till Sunday evening, at least 151 people belonging to the Chin-Kuki-Mizo community in Manipur have entered the Aizawl district, while 228 fled to the Kolasib near the Assam border and 217 others to Saitual bordering trouble-torn Manipur, Home Commissioner and Secretary H Lalengmawia said.
Tripura
Altogether 208 students of Tripura, who have been studying in violence-hit Manipur, have returned to their home state safely, a senior official said on Sunday. Twenty-one more students are still waiting at Imphal airport there to catch an Agartala-bound flight, he said. Chief Minister Manik Saha expressed happiness over the safe return of the students. As many as 171 students – all studying at Regional Institute of Medical Sciences in Manipur’s Imphal- have returned directly from there by a special flight early on Sunday and another batch of 37 students have also been brought back, an official of the Chief Minister’s Office said.
Sikkim
A total of 128 students of Sikkim were rescued from violence-hit Manipur, and were being brought back to the state on Sunday, officials said. The stranded students were first brought to Kolkata on flights arranged by the state government from Imphal. From Kolkata, they boarded buses for Siliguri in northern West Bengal. From Siliguri, they were brought to state capital Gangtok by SNT buses. A doctor from Sikkim, who was posted in a far-off area in Manipur, was also safely brought back, officials said. Chief Secretary VB Pathak led the ‘Operation Gurans’ to bring back the students. Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang was constantly monitoring the situation, and took stock of the safety and security of the students, officials said.
Telangana
In the wake of prevailing law and order situation in Manipur, the Telangana Government decided to immediately airlift its students and citizens from Imphal to Hyderabad by a special flight on Sunday. A press release from Telangana Government said, it is taking all measures to ensure the safety of its students and people residing in the northeastern state. As per information available, about 250 students belonging to Telangana are studying in various educational institutions in Imphal and surrounding areas, it further said. The release said a special cell has been opened to monitor the situation in Manipur to protect the interests of Telangana people in that State.
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh Home Minister Bamang Felix on Friday said the government is making all efforts to ensure safe return of stranded students of the state in violence-hit Manipur. He said the Pema Khandu government is in “constant touch” with the Manipur administration for the evacuation of students stuck in the trouble-torn state. The state government has already constituted a coordination committee comprising the chief secretary and the director general of police to supervise the situation in Manipur, he said. A control room has been set up at the civil secretariat, the home minister said. 263 students from Arunachal Pradesh have been studying at various institutes in Manipur.
– With inputs from PTI
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