Nepalis living in the north-eastern Indian state of Megalaya are having sleepless nights in recent days after a decree of local tribal groups that they leave the state by May 1.

Media reports published from Shillong, the state capital, said the Federation of Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Peoples (FKJGP), an organisation that claims to fight for the rights of indigenous people of Meghalaya, has ordered Indian nationals of Nepali origin including Nepali migrant workers, Bengalis and Hindi-speaking people, to leave the state by the end of this month or face action.

The Federation has issued notices asking them to evacuate their places immediately.

“We are having sleepless nights and feeling greatly insecure after the threat. Like me, many people working here are in a quandary,’ Harsha Gurung, a middle-aged Nepali-speaking daily wage earner, was quoted as saying by Indo Asian News Service (IANS).

Gurung has been working in a coalmine in Meghalaya since past 12 years.

“We are not going to spell out what course of action we would take once the deadline expires. But something is going to happen and we shall throw them out,” tribal leader Emlang Lytan has said. “These workers are a bunch of criminals who have been indulging in looting, murders, and even raping our tribal women,” Lytan accused them.

A number of other tribal organisations and individuals have backed the Federation’s demand to free the state of migrant workers.

The local government has appealed for restraint and asked the migrant workers not to panic, expressing commitments to provide security.