Kuki-Zo students await study facilities outside of Imphal

Guwahati: Many engineering students from the Kuki-Zo community, who fled to their homes in the hill districts of Manipur from Imphal or dispersed elsewhere in the country, have decided not to enroll themselves in the new academic session.
Though many students are spending their time in other cities to get access to internet and ensure their own safety, many others from a humble family background are gazing at their phones with a hope that they will get a message of alternate arrangement for study outside Imphal, where the leading engineering colleges are located.
Paul Haokip, an MTech student of NIT Manipur, had a narrow escape from the paying guest (PG) accommodation where he was staying. He managed to reach a CRPF camp in Imphal soon after violence broke out on May 3 and then stayed in Kolkata and Delhi. Paul has qualified to register in MTech final year but is one of those Kuki-Zo students who have not registered their names for the next semester unless alternate offline classes are given to them.
“Since May 3, I am roaming here and there in the country only with the hope that online classes will start soon and alternate classroom arrangements outside Imphal will become a reality. But nothing is happening. So many of the 50-odd students from the Kuki-Zo community have decided not to enroll in NIT Imphal if they don’t get alternate arrangements,” Paul told TOI from a PG in New Delhi.
Students from other communities have joined offline classes at NIT, Imphal.
Nengneithem Touthang was supposed to get enrolled in the seventh semester of engineering at the NIT in July. The last date for registration was August 4 but she has not registered yet. “We want to transfer to other NITs in the country,” she said. “We were told that notes will be sent to us online but nothing has happened so far. If we go to Imphal, they will kill us. Why should I enroll myself for the next semester in Imphal?” asked Nengneithem, who joined a protest in Churachandpur demanding alternate arrangements, on Tuesday.