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Later on Saturday evening, Mizoram government’s home department issued a statement saying that Pamra representatives, while expressing regret that their statement on Friday was misconstrued, decided not to pursue it any further to maintain peace and tranquility in the state.
Meanwhile,two persons, including a juvenile, were apprehended by Manipur Police on Saturday in connection with the May 4 parading of two women naked in the state.
Mizoram tightens security, asks Meiteis there not to be misguided by rumours
The Mizoram government made an appeal to the Meiteis living in the state not to leave and assuring them of their safety and security amid escalating tension. According to sources at Lengpui Airport, 65 people on Saturday took an Indigo ATR flight from Aizawl to Imphal. Most of them are from central institutes like the College of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Regional Institute of Para-medical and Nursing Science, Mizoram University and Zoram Medical College.
Security was tightened at several places in Mizoram on Saturday amid fears of a backlash over the May 4 strip-and-parading video even as the government said a former insurgent group’s statement on Meiteis had been misconstrued.
“The deployment was made in anticipation of possible development of tension which could threaten the security of Meiteis living in Aizawl due to public outrage against the recent viral video (of two women paraded naked in Manipur),” DIG (Northern Range) Lallianmawia said.
Mizoram home commissioner Pu H Lalengmowia held a meeting with representatives of PAMRA (Peace Accord MNF Returnees’ Association) in his office Saturday where PAMRA clarified that their statement was “an advisory requesting Meiteis living in Mizoram to exercise caution in the light of public sentiments regarding the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur, and was not a diktat or a quit notice to them,” the state home department said. The PAMRA representatives, it said, had decided not to pursue it any further to maintain peace and tranquillity.
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Despite assurances and requests from the Mizoram government not to leave the state, 65 people took an Indigo ATR flight from Aizawl to Imphal from Lengpui Airport. Most of them are from central institutions such as the College of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Regional Institute of Para-medical and Nursing Science (RIPANS), Mizoram University, and Zoram Medical College.
Numerous others are believed to have embarked on their journey by road since Friday evening in their search for safety.
The home commissioner also separately met All Mizoram Manipuri Association representatives to assure them of their safety and told them not to be misguided by rumours.
The Mizo students at RIMS, Imphal and other institutions are planning to leave Imphal for Aizawl. There are about 200 Mizo students pursuing higher studies in Manipur, all of whom had been evacuated in the wake of the ethnic violence that began on May 3. However, a few, who have essential tasks to complete, returned to Imphal.
Most Meteis in Mizoram are from Assam. Sources said Manipuris living in Mizoram have started leaving the state Saturday morning for areas in Assam’s Barak Valley via NH 306, which connects Aizawl with Silchar, following the PAMRA statement.
“We have come to understand that people belonging to both Meiteis and Pangals (Manipuri Muslim), who have been living in Aizawl and other parts of Mizoram, have started leaving the state since around 10am on Saturday out of fear. Many of them already reached Cachar district of Assam. We have urged the Assam government, and the Cachar district administration in particular, to make arrangements for their refuge,” said Nanda Babu Singh, a functionary of Save Manipuri (Manipuri Kanba Lup), an umbrella organisation of 15 Meitei bodies of Assam. He told TOI on Saturday that although they have urged the Assam government to take care of the fleeing members of the Manipuri community of Mizoram, the Meiteis in Barak Valley have come forward to provide accommodation.
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“Meiteis living in Mizoram are mostly from the Barak Valley and a few are from Manipur. Those from the Barak Valley will go to their homes and those from Manipur will have to stay in Silchar and other areas for some more time because using NH 37, connecting Silchar with Imphal via Jiribam, continues to be unsafe for Meiteis. On the other hand, many cannot afford air travel. Therefore, the Assam government must make arrangements for relief camps for them,” said the Save Manipuri functionary, who retired as a senior Assam administration official.
Sources said Meitei organisations have been taking care of those fleeing Mizoram as soon as they reach Cachar.
In Manipur, officials said security forces conducted search operations in vulnerable and fringe areas of both the valley and the hill districts, leading to the destruction of nine bunkers and camps on Phaileng hilltop in Kangpokpi district on Friday.
“A total of 126 nakas and checkpoints were installed in different districts, both in the hill and the valley, and police detained 413 persons in connection with violations,” the Manipur police tweeted
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