Fearing for their safety in strife-torn Manipur, students at Imphal’s Indian Institute of Information Technology-Manipur have written to the institute’s director asking permission to return to their home states.

The letter was sent to Professor Krishan Bhaskar on September 15 and collectively signed by the majority of third-year BTech students.

“We respectfully request that you grant us permission to go home until the situation improves,” the letter said. “Your immediate attention to this matter would help alleviate the stress and fear we are experiencing.”

The letter, which said it had been signed by 97 percent of the 500-odd students living in hostels, flagged their major concerns: the internet shutdown in the state, curfew and safety concerns, cash shortage, police misconduct, and future travel restrictions.

Director Bhaskar confirmed to Newslaundry that he had received the letter but reiterated that the campus is “very safe”.

Claims and college’s rebuttals 

Established in 2015, IIIT-M has about 750 students enrolled, of which about 600 live in two college hostels while about 150 live in private accommodation off-campus. Of the two hostels, the one for male students is 500 metres away from the college while the second, for female students, is within the campus. According to its website, the college offers BTech courses in four disciplines and PhD courses.

In the letter, students said the internet blackout “severely” hampered their academic progress and caused “anxiety” about their futures. They said they were “unable to complete our projects”, “apply for internships”, or use online web development and coding tools. 

Bhaskar told Newslaundry the college’s broadband connection had slowed down because too many students were using the internet.

“A few days ago, students were concerned about the internet. We had resumed only broadband. We are trying to get more broadband bandwidth for high speed,” he said. “But mobile internet was restored yesterday by the government. So we don’t see any problem.”

In the letter, the students said they were worried that if the situation “continued to worsen”, it “may soon become impossible to even reach the airport safely”. Another concern was “police misconduct” against students over the curfew that has been imposed in the city since September 10. “Several students have been beaten up without any provocation, leading to widespread fear and insecurity on campus,” it said. 

The hostel is located approximately 500 metres from campus. While the Manipur government had ordered the closure of colleges on September 10, IIIT-M continued to hold classes..

A student, who did not want to be named, told Newslaundry that on Sunday, a “group of four-five students” had just ventured out of the hostel when they were accosted by the police.

“The police assaulted them due to curfew hours and asked them to stay indoors,” the student alleged. Another student claimed that on Saturday, a student “was threatened with assault when he had gone to a grocery store to buy a few essentials”.

Yet Bhaskar maintained that the campus “is very safe and is away from the community area”.

“It is adjacent to the CRPF camp and the high court opposite the IT park. There is no local residential area,” he said. “During the peak of the conflict, we were safe. Therefore we have been continuing the classes.”

When asked whether this flew against the government order, Bhaskar said the order was meant to prevent local students from protesting on campus. “All our students are from outside the state.”

He also rejected the “police misconduct” allegation, saying no such incident had been reported to him.

Since September 1, the violence in the state escalated with aerial attacks allegedly from the Kuki-dominated hills. Since May last year, when the violence began, more than 270 people have been killed and 60,000 displaced. Read our reportage on the conflict here.

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