MSAD condemns, demands probe
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, October 12, 2013:
Demanding a departmental inquiry into the incident, Manipur Students' Association Delhi (MSAD) has strongly condemned the physical assault on Dr Hanjabam Shukhdeba by Prof.Moirangthem Mani (Academic Staff College Director) without any provocation during an orientation class on 10 Oct.
2013. In a statement, the student body also alleged that the utter silence of the Manipur University (MU) authority on this issue has unmasked its administrative high-handedness.
MSAD contextualized this assault as a part of the persisting de-politicization, and as a result; the total shrinking of academic space in Manipur.
This act of assault is a common threat to the democratic ethos not only in MU or Manipur, but also to the wider academic world.
So far, most members of the academic community and civil bodies of Manipur do not pay much attention to the issue, reflects the dead of 'social-self' in our society.
The MU authority must render an unconditional apology to the assaulted person as well as to the society.
A departmental enquiry must be conducted and appropriate disciplinary measures must be adopted so that administrative authoritarianism is contained.
Students of Manipur must remind themselves that the university is not a space to produce trained dogs, but it is a centre of critical inquiry.
And, students have a historical and political role to play against any forms of authoritarianism.
It is high time that the students of the MU organise themselves against any arbitrariness and despotism, the statement issued by the Academic & Magazine Secretary of MSAD added.