The sky opened. IAF jets crackled like bees. A sudden scramble unfolded over Imphal.
After the Air Wing NCC camp wrapped up on May 20, cadets from Assam’s Jorhat and Guwahati found themselves stranded. The expected highway to their homes lay in tatters, a shadow of dangerous blockades spiraling through Manipur’s pathways.
Truth is the state’s transport links had been sabotaged. Roadways were choked by both a Kuki blockade and a counter‑Naga stand‑off. With mud, barricades, and uncertainty hanging over each turn, the students could not march home.
Meanwhile, a three‑plane fleet of AN‑32s swung into action. Three IAF aircraft lifted 132 cadets in a single, tight operation. Sixty cadets soon found themselves in Jorhat, and seventy‑two rode the air‑Route to Guwahati.
Still, the mission was more than just a rescue. It illustrated how swiftly logistics can pivot when a region’s stability fractures. The trip underscored that what once seemed an isolated skirmish now carried national consequence: training, troop morale, and the safety of civilian dependents front on the ground.
And yet, as the jets departed, did the region truly feel the weight of that night’s evacuation, or was it merely an airborne stopgap?
