TURA, May 7: A strong sense of relief is on the minds of dozens of young students from Meghalaya who managed to escape the terrible ordeal of chaos and ethnic clashes taking place in Manipur after Meghalaya government promptly reacted to airlift the stranded students in a special operation that continues to this day.
Among the first batch of students to be airlifted on May 5th from Imphal to the safety of Guwahati and back home in Tura, Miss Ajakchera G Momin spoke to Hub News on Saturday night narrating how they stayed put inside their hostel before the Indian army personnel arrived to escort them safely to Impahal airport for a special flight back home.
Ajakchera is one among dozens of young students from Meghalaya who were safely evacuated from Imphal during the curfew hours.
A 3rd year student in the Agriculture University in Imphal, Ajakchera recalled how the situation went from bad to worse causing immense worry to all of them.
“Initially we didn’t realize the seriousness of the situation when we first heard of sporadic incidents on the first day of the trouble. It was only in the evening time that we got a message from our hostel authorities advising us to stay indoors as the troubles had spread. We became worried to venture out of the hostel after hearing sounds of gunfire and we could see in the distance fires breakout during the night,” recalls Ajakchera.
She initially was optimistic that the situation would die down and things would return to normal.
“But on the second night we received more news about the trouble spreading. We became more worried after getting news that they (mob) had entered Manipur University campus. Never have we experienced such a situation and we were unable to sleep during the night,” she narrated.
According to Ajakchera it was a united teamwork by all of them under the banner of the Meghalaya Association that things could move in the positive manner.
“Our colleagues through the Meghalaya Association contacted the higher ups in Meghalaya who in turn also reached out to all of us keeping a regular flow of information about steps being taken for our evacuation and it was on the third day of the troubles that we could get out of the city,” mentioned Ajakchera.
The snapping of internet service to stem the violence also impacted those in need of help. The students of the university were barely able to reach out to authorities as trouble spread. It was thanks to the functioning of the wifi set up inside the campus which provided a semblance of life to all the inmates during the crisis.
She says the sight of the Indian army personnel arriving at the doorsteps of their campus in four trucks on Friday to evacuate them was a huge sigh of relief to all of them.
The teachers who had been all along with the students also provided them with immense assistance for their safe evacuation and they were soon hitting the empty roads of the city enroute to the airport.
“Although we felt secure to have the Indian army escorting us, yet the fear was still there because we were passing through empty roads that were strewn with burnt out vehicles and even homes that had been destroyed. We were relieved once we were on the plane taking off for Guwahati,” she says.
Meghalaya Govt promptness feted
The quick reaction from the Meghalaya Government to move out students has been hailed by the students who were stranded in the troubled state of Manipur.
“Govt was very prompt in their response to our appeals. We were very happy with the fast reaction. Not only that, the government ensured we did not have any difficulties during our journey. From refreshments at the airport and dinner on the road to comfortable buses to reach home,” says Ajakchera Momin.
