Imphal: A total of 68 Meitei people from Mizoram arrived at Imphal airport in Manipur by a special flight on Sunday.
They left Aizawl and returned to their homestead despite the Mizoram government assuring them of safety amid tensions arising out of warnings/precautions meted out by former cadres of the erstwhile underground Mizo National Front (MNF), subsequent to a video of two Kuki women being paraded naked by a mob of Meitei men that went viral recently.
Sunday’s arrival of Meiteis at their homestead mostly consisted of government employees working in Mizoram.
A few Meitei students also arrived on the same flight.
However, a significant number of Meitei students are still in Mizoram amid the prevailing situation.
Official reports state that over 500 Meitei people from Mizoram had already arrived at different locations in Manipur by road on Saturday.
Additionally, a number of Meiteis are currently stranded at different churches in Mizoram.
Meanwhile, the Manipur government has cancelled the proposed schedule to airlift the Meiteis living in Mizoram from Monday (July 24) following the Mizoram government’s assurances of safety and security to the Meitei community living in Mizoram.
The Mizoram government has also appealed to them not to believe in rumours.
Upon his arrival on the special flight, Ng Tomba (name changed), a government employee working in Mizoram, told reporters at Imphal airport that the owner of a Mizo house he had been renting for many years had told him to vacate the house at the earliest.
In fear, he managed to leave Mizoram on the special flight.
The Meiteis living in Mizoram received threats to leave Mizoram on May 4, the following day ethnic violence broke out between the Meiteis and Kukis.