TURA:
In Tura, Ajakchera G Momin narrated to The Meghalayan on Saturday night how they stayed put inside their hostel before the Indian army personnel arrived to escort them safely to Imphal airport for a special flight back home.
Ajakchera is one among dozens of students from Meghalaya who were safely evacuated from Imphal during the curfew hours.
A 3rd year student in the Agriculture University in Imphal, Ajakchera recalled how the situation went from bad to worse causing immense worry to all of them.
“Initially we didn’t realise the seriousness of the situation when we first heard of sporadic incidents on the first day of the trouble. It was only in the evening that we got a message from our hostel authorities advising us to stay indoors as the trouble had spread. We became worried to venture out of the hostel after hearing sounds of gunfire and we could see in the distance fire during the night,” recalled Ajakchera.
She initially was optimistic that the situation would die down and things would return to normal.
“But on the second night we received more news about the trouble spreading. We became more worried after getting news that they (mob) had entered Manipur University campus. Never have we experienced such a situation and we were unable to sleep during the night,” she narrated.
She said they heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of the Indian army personnel arriving at the doorsteps of their campus in four trucks on Friday to evacuate them.