Protest over Loitam Richard murder : After BJP & MPP, offices of TC, NCP, MSCP sealed
Source: Hueiyen News Service / Newmai News Network

Imphal, May 21 2012: Intensifying the agitation demanding the arrest of those involved in the alleged murder of Richard Loitam, a Manipuri student, in Bangalore, agitated students today locked up the offices of Trinamool Congress (TC), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Manipur State Congress Party (MSCP) .

Demanding justice over the alleged murder of Richard Loitam, volunteers of six student organizations namely AMSU, DESAM, MSF, KSA, SUK and SWAK stormed the offices of these political parties and locked up the offices after ransacking, before the police could do anything about them.

The agitated students had earlier locked up the offices of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and Manipur People's Party and had a face-off with the police while trying to lock up the Congress office.

Agitated students burning the effigies of CMs of Manipur and Karnataka in protest

Sit-in protests were also organized by students' bodies at places like Thoubal and effigies were burnt to denounce the inaction and lack of response from the Manipur government regarding the alleged murder of the student of the state in Karnataka.

A press meet was also organized by the agitated students at a place in Imphal after sealing the offices of the political parties, during which the student representatives strongly condemned racial discrimination against North East students in Indian mainland.

Various forms of democratic agitations were organized by the students to protest suspicious deaths of Richard Loitam and Okram Laaba and pressed the government of Manipur to look into the matter and to deliver justice to the two student victims, but all the appeals of the students failed to bring about a desirable response from the state and central governments, stated the students' representatives.

They asserted that the political parties whose offices have been locked up did not deem it fit to listen to the appeals of the students to help bring justice regarding the deaths of the two Manipuri students and so their offices were locked as they were of no use to the people of the state, and warned that the students would not be responsible for any unfortunate development if the offices which are locked up are forcibly opened.

"Discrimination of students from North East has been going on for the last many years but the so called leaders of the state representing the government have been keeping quiet instead of protesting and demanding justice for the numerous victims of molestations, rape and killings, and the discrimination that is being faced till today is a result of the silence maintained by the state government over these issues ", stated the student representatives.