Jan. 19: The army has fanned out in Manipur?s Churachandpur district after a militant outfit forced hundreds of Hmar and Paite tribesmen to flee to neighbouring Mizoram.
What started as a trickle turned into an exodus of panic-stricken refugees forcing the Mizoram government to open relief camps in the border villages of Vaitin, Khawpuar, Sakawrdai and New Vervek.
Sources said the tribals began to flee after United National Liberation Front (UNLF) militants stormed a few villages and threatened the people for allegedly sheltering Hmar militants.
Hmar community leaders today met Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh to apprise him of the prevailing situation in Churachandpur district and the plight of the villagers, hounded and left defenceless.
The community leaders, including local MLA Charltonlien Amo, told the chief minister that nearly 1,000 villagers from Tipaimukh sub-division?s Lunthulen area along the Manipur-Mizoram border had fled their homes over the past few days.
The delegation wanted the government to intervene immediately.
Ibobi Singh assured the delegation that he would write to Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga and ask for relief materials for the displaced persons.
The chief minister said his government would reimburse the money spent by his Mizoram counterpart on the refugees.
Speaking over telephone, Joseph Hmar, vice-president of the Hmar Students Association, said Ibobi Singh had assured them that apart from the chief secretary-level talks, he would speak to his Mizoram counterpart.
Another Hmar leader said the villagers started fleeing their homes after UNLF members allegedly assaulted the male members of Lungthulen on the night of January 16, saying the villagers were sheltering Hmar militants.
The flare for the conflict, however, was provided on January 6 when activists of the UNLF and Hmar People?s Conference (Democratic) clashed at Parbung, subdivisional headquarters of Tipaimukh. Two members of the HPC (D) were killed in the incident.
An army official in Cachar said soldiers have started moving from the Barak area to Parbung, which is more than 250 km from Churachandpur district headquarters. The security post nearest to Parbung is located at Henglep, about 200 km away.
According to Mizoram police, the villages where these Hmar refugees have sought shelter are already beginning to face a food crisis.
The police said it was unlikely that the Manipur underground outfit would trail the refugees into Mizoram since the Assam Rifles has sprung into action.
The Hmar student leader said the Manipur government has called the army, which is moving into Tipaimukh from two sides ? on land from Churachandpur and by river from Cachar.
An unconfirmed report said the residents of one village in Manipur have ?reached an agreement? with the UNLF. But no details were available.
A source said the reason for the animosity between the UNLF ? one of the bigger outfits in the state ? and the Hmar outfit was the overlapping of areas for ?tax collection? by the groups, an euphemism for extortion.
?While the Hmar and Paite villagers pay regularly to the HPC, the UNLF feels that the villagers should pay it as the area falls on Manipur territory,? the source said.
Manipur police said the situation was ?under control? but rued that the strength of security forces in the area was quite inadequate.
