Traumatised medico students refuse to return to CMC
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, May 31 2023:
Students of Churachandpur Medical College, who have been left traumatised by armed Kuki militants during the communal violence which started from Churachandpur district, have urged the government to provide them with another safe place to study, while stating that they feel insecure returning to the medical college.
In a press meet held at Manipur Press Club here Wednesday, one of the med-ical students informed that of the 100 students at the College, over 60 of are from the valley area.
On May 3, as the violence broke out in Churachandpur, the students had to go through tre-mendous difficulty to get evacuated.
The experience has left them extremely traumatised and no medical student wants to go back and study at the place where they no longer feel safe.
Thus, the student urged the government to arrange an alternative, safe location for the students of Churachandpur Medical College to continue their studies.
The student continued that while normal classes for RIMS and JNIMS have already commenced from May 22, classes for students of the Medical College will begin from June 5.As the university examination for all medical colleges is to be conducted together, if the classes for Churachandpur Medical College do not commence soon, it will be difficult to cover the syllabus.
Hence, the student also requested the government to com-mence the classes as soon as possible.
Recounting experiences of the stu-dents of the medical college during the May 3 clashes in Churachandpur, a female student said that as soon as the clashes began, there was intermittent firing and burning of Meitei quarters lo-cated near the College.
All of the students ran outside and contacted the security forces to rescue them.
The students waited outside for the rescue till 11pm.As the violence seemed to calm down, they returned to the campus.
Shortly after, armed Kuki militants dressed in black attire stormed the campus and made the students stand in straight line.
The militants ordered the students to surrender their mobile phones and threatened them not to contact anyone outside.
The militants warned that if the medical students informed anyone of their (students) location or cross the line, they will not be spared and suffer grave consequences.
Fortunately, secu-rity forces arrived after a short while to rescue them.
If the security forces had showed up late, it is hard to imagine what the situation would have been, she recalled.
She further recalled that no MLA stood for the students on that fateful day.
No one extended help to the students, who survived only on water for days.
It was only upon their arrival at a relief camp on May 6 that they could finally get to eat some food.
They then returned to Imphal on May 8 afternoon, she added.
Another male student recounted the horror, stating that they would never be able to forget the incident in their life.
After the students were allowed to leave, some protestors and armed militants allegedly stole the belongings of the students.
With regard to phones which were forcefully taken away from around 766 students, he requested for return of the phones, adding that the mobile phones contain many things which are important to the students and their future.
Even though the experiences will be unforgettable, he urged for prioritising the career of the students.
He also urged for providing alternative, safe locations for the Kuki students studying at the medical students as well as the stu-dents for the valley with strict security arrangements.