Kuki student from NEFIS elected unopposed to the post of General Secretary of MSAD

New Delhi, 31st October, 2013 :

Manipuri Students Association Delhi (MSAD) elects its new President, General Secretary and Executive Committee Members
Kuki student from NEFIS elected unopposed to the post of General Secretary of MSAD

Two students from the North-East Forum for International Solidarity (NEFIS) who have been actively raising issues of North-East youth in Delhi, were elected unopposed to the post of President and General Secretary of Manipuri Students Association Delhi (MSAD) for the year 2013–2014. Chinglen Khumukcham and Thanglunmang Khongsai from NEFIS were elected as MSAD President and General Secretary, respectively.

The election of these two members into the Executive Committee of MSAD is an extremely positive development and is part of the larger process through which NEFIS has been encouraging Manipuri students to raise their issues in connection with the issues and problems faced by other north-east students. It is with this spirit of bringing different north-east communities together on a common set of concerns that NEFIS spearheaded the two-month long agitation against the imposition of a compulsory Hindi language course under Delhi University’s FYUP course.
Arguing that such a language imposition was a discrimination against north-east students who have little or no school education in the Hindi language, NEFIS sparked off a militant struggle for withdrawal of the compulsory Hindi language course as it would play havoc with the academic performance of north-east students. By precipitating the struggle, both at the level of Delhi University and at level of the HRD Ministry (Government of India), NEFIS succeeded in getting the adamant University to accept the genuineness of the north-east students’ concerns and to withdraw the paper.
Apart from the issue of the compulsory Hindi language paper, NEFIS has also helped mobilize north-east students across the board on glaring problems like police inaction on complaints by north-east youth, police atrocities and also on highly sensitive issues like sexual harassment of north-east women in Delhi.

The concerted efforts of Chinglen Khumukcham and Thanglunmang Khongsai as members of NEFIS have been helping to gradually spread larger sense of solidarity amongst students of different communities/nationalities of North-East . An indication of such solidarity and growing radicalization of youth politics is reflected in the simple fact that for the first time a Kuki student has been elected to the post of MSAD General Secretary.
It is hoped that the emerging solidarity amongst different communities of the north-east will prove longstanding, and will be nurtured in letter and spirit by the newly elected Executive Committee of MSAD. The newly elected President and General Secretary hope that MSAD politics is not only radicalized further, but that students of Manipur in large numbers become more active in the progressive and democratic movement existing in Delhi.

NEFIS pledges to extend full support and to work with the newly elected Executive Committee of MSAD in order to usher in an egalitarian, democratic and progressive functioning of society.

Yours Sincerely
Ginminlun Haokip
North-East Forum for International Solidarity (NEFIS)
Email: [email protected]