SHILLONG, Dec 23: Bhutanese students have been fleeing Shillong over the last couple of days in the wake of Northeast-based ultra outfits having decided to serve a ?quit notice? on the Bhutanese nationals living in the region. Nine extremist organizations of the region, including the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), have decided to serve ?quit notice? on Bhutanese nationals residing in the Northeast faced with continued onslaught by the Royal Bhutanese Army in the Himalayan Kingdom. The ULFA, while demanding immediate cessation of operations against its cadres and other anti-India armed outfits in Bhutan, urged the Assamese, Bodos and Kamtapuris to sever all ties with Bhutan till the operations stopped. Chairman of the outfit Arabinda Rajkhowa in an e-mailed message to the media said: ?The Bhutanese, who have now become our enemy?s friend, is the enemy of the Assamese, Bodos and Kamtapuris?? The outfit would also serve ?quit notices? on Bhutanese nationals who were either settled in the Northeast or had come here for business purposes, reports said.
Meanwhile, although Bhutanese nationals are faced with no immediate threat in the Meghalaya capital, several of the over 300 Bhutanese students studying in various educational institutions, have been returning home after reports of the ?quit notice? were flashed in the media on Sunday. ?No body has threatened us but our parents have been calling us to return home immediately fearing violence,? a Bhutanese student told this Correspondent here. Several more hundred Bhutanese students studying in technical and other general course institutions in several north-eastern States have also been living the region, reports reaching here said.
Meanwhile, commenting on the situation, Meghalaya Home Minister Robert G Lyngdoh told The Assam Tribune that the matter has not been brought to his notice from any quarter as yet.?The Government is always ready to provide security, if the situation so warrants,? Lyngdoh said, even as he pointed out that students from outside studying in Shillong have been leaving the city due to the onset of the winter vacation.It may be mentioned here that although most of the educational institutions have been closed for forthcoming Christmas and the winter in general, the Bhutanese students have hastened their return home in the wake of the threat by the ultras.