Bihari students stranded in the violence-hit Manipur on May 9 returned to Patna through a special flight arranged by the Bihar government. Altogether 172 students landed at Patna airport out of which 21 were from Jharkhand.
The officials of Bihar government were deployed at the airport to receive the students and they were welcomed with the rose flower. A help desk was also installed outside the airport for further enquiry. Students of four educational institutions were there in the flight which included Central Agriculture University (CAU), National Sports University (SPU), National Institute of Technology (NIT) and Indian Institute of Information Technology Senapati at Imphal, Manipur.
Patna resident Divyanshu Kumar of National Institute of Technology (NIT) Manipur said that they were safe and there was no problem for food and drinking water but the situation outside was very tense. He also said that the situation in Manipur was getting a bit better. He thanked the Bihar government for the timely rescue.
Another Patna resident, Mayank Raj, of NIT Manipur, studying in the final year of Computer Science said that there were continuous incidents of firing and bombing outside the college campus.
“The sound of the bombing outside the college campus could be clearly heard due to which there was fear among the students. However, after the deployment of the army personnel, the situation became better but as soon as the army used to move here and there, the violence used to start again. There was an atmosphere of panic in Manipur,” Raj said.
The students said that the market outside the campus was closed, but no students were injured in the arson as the college campus was protected by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
Sridhar Anand, a resident of Begusarai district and first year student of IIIT Manipur said that the situation in Manipur is slowly getting better but the internet services have been suspended for the next 5 days.
“All educational institutions have been closed due to which studies were getting badly affected. I saw how the hills were burnt down by the agitators and public properties were damaged by the miscreants and bombed. Some ministers from the Government of Manipur had also visited the campus to meet us and assured us about our security.”
He however complaint that Bihar government was the last state who rescued their students from the violence-hit Manipur. He said that several other states rescued the students in the beginning itself.
Kumari Atya,, the first year student of Central Agricultural University, Manipur expressed her happiness after returning to Patna.
“Due to the sound of bullets and bombs, I could not sleep in the campus throughout the night. There was a shortage of vegetables and groceries because the market was closed. Instead of three meals a day we were served two meals a day,”Atya said.
Akruti Kumari, a resident of West Champaran district and first year student of IIIT said, “I have never seen such an incident in my life. Even in the night there was the sound of gunshots and bombs. When the situation becomes normal and according to the notice from the institute regarding the opening of the college, I will go back to Manipur but right now we have holidays for one month.”
At least 60 people have been killed in the ethnic clashes in Manipur and over 1500 houses have been burned down. Apart from Bihar several other states have made the arrangement to bring back stranded students back to their respective states.
