Source: The Imphal Free Press
Imphal, July 01:
The All Manipur Students Union, AMSU, in a memorandum to the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, reiterated its stand that it will continue with their democratic mass struggle until the very basis of "our people's collective life as it existed for centuries, that is, Manipur, is safe and secure." The memorandum signed by the student bodies' president in charge, Mangsatabam Ingo Singh, said it is a democratically constituted body of students of Manipur and has been closely involved with the issue of Manipur's territorial integrity for many decades.
As evidence of this claim the AMSU also enclosed the photocopy of a news clipping dated January 7, 1968.The memorandum said the AMSU deeply regret that the ceasefire extension has been effected despite repeated assurances by responsible representatives of the government of Indian and that tile unanimous and repeated resolutions of the Manipur legislative assembly on the issue carry absolutely no weight in India's democracy.
"We affirm our desire to be governed by constitutional authorities which obey democratic norms and respect human rights, but we will oppose tooth and nail the so called Ground Rules of a ceasefire with an insurgent entity becoming the governing principles of our life in the prelude to dismemberment of Manipur", the memorandum said.
"Even after the spontaneous but absolutely non-communal explosion of resentment by the people on June 18 over Government of India's policy of appeasement towards the NSCN(IM), the people of Manipur are merely told of reviewing ,"the issues arising out of the ceasefire" and not of a review of the ceasefire agreement itself�, the memorandum said.
The memorandum urged the Prime Minister to "respect and honour the feelings aspirations and the sentiments of an overwhelming majority of the people of Manipur." It also called for the review of the ceasefire agreement at the earliest so as to confine the operation of the ceasefire with the NSCN(IM) to within the boundaries of Nagaland state.