Rally protests torching of schools
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 09: In protest against the burning down of 11 Government schools in the three hill districts of Manipur in the intervening nights of July 3 and 4 and denouncing the justification given by All Naga Students' Association, Manipur (ANSAM) for the acts of arson, leaders of various civil organisations took out a rally here today.

After the protest rally, a memorandum was also submitted to the Chief Minister demanding a white paper on the matter.

The protest rally attended by leaders of various civil organisations like HERICOUN, MEELAL, TIPS, WACAK, DESAM among others commenced from Iboyaima Shumang Leela Sanglen at Palace Compound at around 1 pm.

Police personnel stopped the rallyists from proceeding further at Pureiromba Khongnangkhong leading to a confrontation.

Rally staged to protest the torching of schools in the hill dists

However, timely arrival of a reinforcement of police force managed to control the situation.

Afterward, a four-member team was allowed to meet Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh to hand over the memorandum demanding 'a white paper on the infamous issue of setting a number of Government schools in the hill districts of Senapati, Ukhrul and Chandel and the subsequent justification of the organised crime by Naga Students' Association, Manipur (ANSAM)'.

Decrying the unfortunate incident of burning down the Government schools in the three hill districts, the memorandum maintained that it was an act of political conspiracy and organised crime.

'But the most unfortunate thing is the hurried justification of the crime by an organisation, surprisingly a student body feeding upon distorted facts and misdirected frenzy', the memorandum said, adding that the Government is required to answer to the allegation made by the student body promptly indifference could 'harden the lies into legacy and transform fiction into facts'.

Reacting to the claim of ANSAM that 'this is an issue involving two distinct entities the tribals in the hills and the Meiteis in the valley', the memorandum asserted that the very claim is quite contradictory to the existing and accepted histories and chronicles of the land.

'If the division was made on the mere and very recent fact that the people in the hills are mostly Christians and those in the valley are mostly Hindus, which is only a non-assailable phenomena, then it is most unhistoric and illogical.

One should be aware of the fact that there are fairly a large number of villages and towns inhabited by our brethren initially from the hills now and their percentage is increasing day by day.

More than 70 percent of the high administrative posts and positions are being held by the people from the hills.

In the political history of Manipur too, after attaining full-fledged Statehood in 1972, the office of the Chief Minister has been held for more number of years by representatives from the hills and even from the minority Muslim community.

As to the charge that the passing of Manipur Official Language Bill making Meiteilon the official language of the State was an act of threatening the very existence of tribal dialects, the memorandum categorically stated it is compounding of all right thinking reasons.

The memorandum recalled that it was 'our own honourable and illustrious Rishang Keishing, the then Chief Minister of Manipur, who deeply feeling the need of doing so, passed the Bill on the unanimous approval of the House'.

'Linguistically speaking, no individual nor race can claim a birth right to a language.

It is the property of the speaker.

Meiteilon, as it happens to be lingua-franca within the State between the ethnic communities, is at the best advantage of all of us to become the State official language.

Linguistic discrimination is an outdated, non-historic and irrational miscarriage of the benefits inherent in the use of the language.

It is wrong to conceived Meiteilon as the sole property of the Meiteis or English as those of Teutonic (Germanic) people only.

Moreover, major tribal dialects are enjoying maximum promotion through school and university curriculum, print and electronic media, cultural and literary projects and programmes, the memorandum pointed out.

In connection with the allegation that Meiteilon has been made a compulsory MIL paper in Civil Service Examination (UPSC) to discourage tribals from appearing in it, the memorandum said that the falsity of the allegation can be confirmed through a phone call either to the MPSC office or the UPSC office within a matter of minutes.

'Only really wonders whether this allegation has been made out of sheer ignorance or through conspired distortion or concealment of facts which we fear, may be of little effect in this age of cell phones and internet services', the memorandum said.

As to the charge that the Govt of Manipur prevents any Govt school from getting affiliated to Nagaland Board of Secondary Education (NBSE), which the student body claims to be better than the Board of Secondary Education, Manipur (BSEM), the memorandum said keeping aside the unfounded claim of one Board to be better than the other without assigning any reason or logic, it is necessary to just flip through some pages of Indian Constitution or make just a phone call to an MP or MLA or a student of political science to ascertain education as a State subject of the Constitutional authority and discretion of which are totally in the purview of the State Govt in consultation with the Central Govt.'The recent performance of our students in the NBSE examination and the consequent certifying of them as private candidates which has severely damaged the precious career of the students should help us to mend our wrongs', the memorandum said.

The allegation that Meitei Mayek has been imposed on all Government schools in Manipur is again very untrue, the memorandum said, adding that inspite of repeated clarification made regarding the non-imposition of the Meitei Mayek in all the schools of Manipur, this allegation remains deriving blood from some vested political interests.

'It is an apolitical attempt to make an issue out of a non-issue.

Flogging a dead horse would hardly make it run', the memorandum said.

The memorandum further said it is true that the tribal quota in Manipur University has been reduced from 33 percent to 7.5 percent, of course, Constitutionally not craftily.

'One should know the reality that the Government of Manipur is much below the power of overlooking the fact that Manipur University is now a Central University headed by His Excellency, the President of India and it has to strictly abide by the rules and regulations adopted for a centrally run University.

The same thing exist in all the Central Universities in India to which Manipur University, in no case, can be an exception', the memorandum said.

Taking note of the objection to the Government's plan to convert the border town of Moreh into a Municipality, the memorandum pointed out that this has been a long cherished demand of the people of Moreh in particular and the people of Manipur in general.

'Keeping in view the upcoming process of international trade and commerce, globalisation, Trans-Asia Railway line passing through Moreh, is it not a matter of celebration rather then mourning to the proposal for upgrading Moreh into a Municipal border town ?', the memorandum questioned, adding that the present and modern trend is that of urbanisation and globalisation the deviation from which would prove fatal to all of us.