CHENNAI: Cut off from the Internet and social media but locked up in safer areas, one hundred and fifty Tamils, many of them doctors, are stranded in the ethnic violence-hit Manipur, according to official sources.
The state government has reached out to the Tamils ensuring they don't run out of food and water supplies, official sources said. "Around 42 of those caught in the ethnic violence are doctors. The rest are students as well as people who had gone to work there," said the sources who are in constant touch with the Tamils there.
"We are closely monitoring the situation. The Tamil Sangam in Manipur is quite active there. The doctors faced a shortage of drinking water which was provided immediately with the help of Tamil Sangam," said Jacintha Lazarus. commissioner of Rehabilitation and Welfare of Non-Resident Tamils.
She says the state has a good presence of Tamils who are staying in Moreh, the border town close to Myanmar. "We are in touch with them to ensure help is provided to the people of the state caught in the violence," she said.
Lazarus said that though the army is deployed, the situation is still tense with violence reported on the streets. "I have advised all the Tamils to stay indoors and not venture out," she says.
People who have roots in Manipur are working in the state and central government departments are also having sleepless nights worried about their dear and near ones in Manipur. "I have my sister in Manipur. She was living on rent. The house owner did not guarantee her safety and she had to stay in a hospital along with her children," says a senior state government official.
"Before the riots broke out, everything was normal. I was there on April 26. The situation turned to worse after a mob vandalised and set on fire the venue of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh's scheduled programme in the state's Churachandpur district on April 27," he says.
The violence triggered after the majority Meitei community, were to be given the status of scheduled tribe which is opposed by Nagas and Kukis, who form about 40% of the population. The officer says that through the deployment of the army, the violence could be curbed but the tension between the communities still remains. He said that families have been moved out of their homes in different parts of the state to safety in makeshift shelters inside government and army buildings.