SILCHAR: A Manipuri students’ body in Assam has asked people from Mizoram, residing in the Barak Valley to leave the state.
A statement in this regard was issued by the All Assam Manipuri Students’ Union (AAMSU) on Monday (July 24).
This development is being seen as a ‘retaliation’ to the evacuation of people belonging to the Meitei community from Mizoram to Manipur.
“As most of the Meiteis living in Mizoram happens to be from Assam, the unruly behaviour of Mizoram has already escalated anger among the Meiteis of Assam, therefore for their own safety we advise Mizos living in the Meitei areas of Barak Valley to vacate the area at the earliest time possible,” the AAMSU said.
It added: “At this crucial juncture of the Manipur turmoil we stand in solidarity of our Meitei kins in Manipur who are being attacked by war monger Kuki Zo tribes. The Meiteis in Assam would extend any possible and necessary support to our kins.”
Evacuation of Meiteis from Mizoram to Manipur began on Saturday (July 22) after the Peace Accord MNF Returnees’ Association (PAMRA), a former insurgent outfit from Mizoram asked the Meitei populace in the state to leave for Manipur amid security concerns.
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A decision to airlift Meiteis from Mizoram was taken by the Manipur government following threat against Meiteis rose after a video of two Kuki women being paraded naked by a mob of Meitei men went viral recently.
Former cadres of the erstwhile underground Mizo National Front (MNF) appealed to the Meitei community from Manipur living in Mizoram to leave the state for their safety as the situation got tense due to ethnic violence in strife-torn Manipur.
“In view of the situation that anything wrong can happen to the Meitei community at this juncture, the PAMRA appeals to all Meitei people in Mizoram to leave for their home state as a safety measure,” a PAMRA statement stated.
Reacting to the evacuation of the Meiteis from Mizoram, the AAMSU stated: “It is very regretful to learn how the Mizoram (both government and elite groups) is involved in fuelling the violence from the beginning when MZP issued a threatening notice to the Meiteis living in Mizoram on 30th April, 2023 even before the Kuki narco-terrorists declared war upon native Meiteis in Manipur on 3rd May, 2023.”
