Himachal student evacuated from Manipur violence says 'never imagined help would come immediately'

Hamirpur: An NIT Manipur student who returned to his native village here on Wednesday said he never imagined that the help would come immediately when he contacted Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu requesting evacuation from the violence-hit state.

Keshav Singh, a Msc (Mathematics) student, was among the five local students who were evacuated from Manipur.

Talking to the reporters, Singh said that the situation has turned bad in Manipur. Houses were being set on fire and bombs were exploding.

The NIT student said that the students were safe inside the hostels but were afraid of continuous clashes.

We had never imagined that the help would come so soon when we messaged Chief Minister Sukhu for evacuation, said Singh, who returned to his native village Jol Lambri in Hamirpur on Wednesday.

The other four students brought back included Simran, Sujal Kaundal and Ashwani Kumar from Mandi, and Nawang Chhering from Kullu.

Singh said that before reaching home, they met the Chief Minister in New Delhi and thanked him for the courtesy shown by him.

Sukhu immediately responded to an urgent text message from a student stuck in Manipur and had shelled out Rs 60,000 from his own pocket for the evacuation of five local students.

Ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur last week after tribals organised a demonstration in the 10 hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The clashes displaced around 23,000 people and resulted in the deaths of at least 54 people.