IMPHAL –(IANS) Parents of students in Manipur have formed an association to secure reopening of schools and colleges, which are shut for over a month, as a students’ group has been agitating for the chief minister’s resignation over an alleged extra judicial killing of a youth in July.
The All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU) called Sep 9 for an indefinite closure of all schools and colleges to protest the killing. Angry over the shutdown, parents have formed the All Manipur Students’ Guardians Organisation (AMSGO) and have given an ultimatum to the government to ensure opening of educational institutes by Oct 21.
“If the government fails to open educational institutes, the guardians would submit a memorandum to the governor Oct 22,” the group said. It has also appealed to the students’ group to resort to some other form of agitation. The association, however, faced the wrath and ire of Apunba Lup, the apex group of about 20-odd organizations spearheading the protest.
“We want a public apology from the AMSGO as they went against the mass movement,” an Apunba Lup spokesperson said. Parents are now blaming both the AMSU and the government for jeopardising the future of thousands of students. Aruna Devi, mother of three school going children, said: “It is unfortunate that the government is not taking any step to break the deadlock. The future of the students is at great risk as this is the peak academic session and there have been no classes for weeks now.
“In the first place, the AMSU should not have dragged the students to take part in an indefinite shutdown,” she said. Manipur is in turmoil since July 23 following the death of 27-year-old Chongkham Sanjit in an alleged gunfight in the heart of capital Imphal. The immediate provocation for the string of protests was the publication of a set of photographs that punctured the security forces’ claim that they had killed the youth in a gun battle.
The photographs clearly revealed that security forces took the youth to a pharmacy in Imphal and then his dead body was brought out from inside. There are some 20 militant groups active in Manipur, bordering Myanmar, with demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy.
-- IANS