At least thirty-five students from Bengal were flown to the city in a special flight from violence-hit Manipur, a senior official said on Wednesday.
The special flight, which was arranged by the state government, landed at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport at around 8 pm on Tuesday, he said.
So far, 60 people, including 53 students, have been evacuated from the north-eastern state.
“Thirty-five more students from West Bengal have been evacuated from Imphal via special flight which landed in the city at 8 pm Tuesday. They hail from Darjeeling, Cooch Behar, Malda, Paschim Bardhaman, Purulia, Paschim Medinipur, Nadia, North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas districts and from the city,” he said.
Of the 35 students brought back, 13 were studying at National Sports University in Manipur, 14 at NIT, Manipur, three at IIIT, Imphal and five in RIMS, the official said, adding that transit accommodation and onward journeys for them were also arranged.
Violent clashes broke out in the north-eastern state after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the 10 Hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
The clashes were preceded by tension over eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals — Nagas and Kukis — constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.
Earlier, terming the volatile situation in Manipur a ‘man-made’ problem, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee opined that the BJP leaders should have visited the North-East state rather than emphasising on political campaigning in the current juncture with people getting killed in the violence-hit state.
She also requested the Manipur government to make arrangements for the safe passage of people from other states, including Bengal, particularly those in the remote areas to the airport so that they can be brought safely to Bengal.
“Relieved to inform that after receiving distress calls at the Nabanna control room, 18 Students of West Bengal studying at the College of Agriculture, Central Agricultural University, Imphal have been specially evacuated by us at the government of Bengal’s cost. They have been flown in to Kolkata by a specially arranged flight which landed at 10:15 am today (May 8). The students are pursuing BSc/MSc/PhD. Our officers received them at Kolkata airport’s special desk and arranged for their onward journey from Kolkata to their residences. Efforts are on to evacuate our others stranded in Manipur. All-out solidarity to anyone of us in distress anywhere,” Banerjee had tweeted.