Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, March 22:
Strongly denouncing the defeat of the private member Bill to pass the Manipur Official Language (Amendment Bill, 2005) on the floor of the Assembly yesterday, DESAM today said that the agenda of the State Govt stands exposed and announced that it will launch a series of intense agitation in the days to come.
In a statement, the student body said that the demand to revive Meetei Mayek did not come over night and added that as far back as 1925, the then Govt had decided to implement the indigenous script.
During this past 80 years, numerous decisions have been taken to implement the script, but till today nothing concrete has come about, it said and added that the statement of the Chief Minister that the script can be introduced only when 60 pc of the poulation knows it defies logic.
It is the duty of the Govt to implement the script and once implemented, the people will learn the script, said DESAM and observed that the various tactics employed by the Government to side line the issue is nothing but to deny the people their right to use their script.
Until and unless the Government adopts a policy to implement and promote Meetei Mayek, the people will continue to be ignorant of their indigenous script, it added.
The excuse that there are legal tussles over the implementation of the script is nothing but a lame excuse to mislead the people, claimed DESAM.
The tussle over the script is nothing but a game plan of the Government to defer its implementation, said DESAM further.
So far the agitation launched to demand the implementation has been democratic, said DESAM and added that the Government is hell bent on making the agitation take a violent turn to justify their action.
Warning that there will be no let up in the demand to implement the script, the student body said that the present agitation will now take on the proportion of the mass movement seen in 1972 to demand Statehood for Manipur.
The student further said that till date hundreds of people have been arrested and sent to jail and informed amongst those jailed are many students who are to appear for their examinations, young married women, who have left behind their children and men who the bread earners of their families.
DESAM expressed deep regret over the arrest of such people and extended their solidarity to the sacrifices made by those in jail.