Aizawl: The Peace Accord MN Returnees Association (PAMRA) has clarified that the press release issued by them was an “advisory requesting Meiteis living in Mizoram to exercise caution in the light of public sentiments regarding the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur and was not a diktat or a quit notice to Meiteis.”
The clarification was made available by the government of Mizoram (Home Department) after holding a meeting with the stakeholders, including All Mizoram Manipuri Association (AMMA) in the wake of what seems to be a fall out of the ethnic conflict spilling over to the neighboring state.
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According to a news report in HY News, 68 Meiteis have flown back.
Several Meiteis from Manipur and southern Assam, majority of whom are government employees, students and others working in private sectors, left Mizoram following the press release on Friday by PAMRA, a former insurgent group. The Mizoram government intervened swiftly and reassured the safety and security of Meitei residents Mizoram.
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The government of Mizoram in the statement said it told the representatives of AMMA not be misguided by rumors and also persuaded them to inform their fellow Meiteis both government employees and students not to leave the state due to the unfortunate misinterpretation of PAMRA press statement.
12,584 Chin-Kuki-Zo from Manipur have fled to Mizoram seeking safety and refuge till July 21; till date no incident of violence or untoward incident has been reported [in Mizoram], government of Mizoram in the statement on Saturday said.
It further stated that the “PAMRA representatives while expressing regret [in the meeting with Mizoram government] that their Press Release was misconstrued, decided not to pursue with their press statement any further in order to maintain peace and tranquility in the state.”
“The situation in Mizoram has become tense and it is no longer safe for Meitei people from Manipur to live in Mizoram in the wake of barbaric and heinous acts committed by miscreants in Manipur,” said the PAMRA press release on Friday.
Chief minister of Mizoram Zoramthanga following the viral video on July 19 had said that the brutal violence in Manipur not only affect the neighbouring state but even the whole country.
“I was really shocked and shaken to see the video that goes viral. The shocking video of the sexual assault of our two Vaiphei women in Manipur is brutal, merciless, heinous, despicable and complete inhuman!” he had condemned.
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