Resign: MUSU to CM, Najma
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 31 2018: Taking strong exception to the stoic silence maintained by the State Government in the face of the protracted Manipur University crisis because of which thousands of students have landed in a very precarious situation, MUSU has demanded resignation of both Chief Minister N Biren and Governor Dr Najma Heptulla.

Speaking to media persons at their conference hall this afternoon, MUSU president M Dayaman said that both the State Government and the Central Government are responsible for the protracted crisis besieging Manipur University.

Time has passed for the Chief Minister and the Governor to resign, he asserted.

He also denounced the report published by the Sunday Guardian which claimed that VC Prof Pandey is not guilty as per an alleged preliminary report submitted by the Fact Finding Committee.

The dubious news report not only projected the ongoing agitation in the wrong light but also demoralized the entire university community, Dayaman said.

A notice pertaining to constitution of the fact finding committee was issued by the HRD Ministry on July 12 before a revised notice was issued on July 17 whereby former acting Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court T Nandakumar was inducted as the chairman of the committee.

But the Sunday Guardian reported that the fact finding committee started its probe from July 10 .

Categorically stating that the particular news report is totally wrong, the MUSU president demanded that the Sunday Guardian should come out with a convincing clarification about their outrageous report within two days else the newspaper will be banned in Manipur.

Expressing serious concern over possible complete derailment of the career of thousands of students on account of a single VC, Dayaman decried that the both the Central Government and the State Government have not yet bothered to initiate a single concrete step to resolve the crisis.

Saying that MUSU would stay away from this year's Independence Day celebration in protest against the Government of India's total indifference to the issue, he appealed to the entire student community of the State to stay away from the Independence Day celebration.

Meanwhile, a joint press release issued by MUSU, MUTA and MU.SA informed that today is the 63rd day of the sustained agitation of the MU community and they were joined in their relay hunger strike by a large contingent headed by former Ministers O Joy and N Mangi, and the community of Manipur Art College.

Saying that MU community is indebted to all the supporters, they pledged to dedicate to the cause of academics for social advancement.

The State and Central Governments have adopted a policy of putting to the back burner the core issues of the land and people of Manipur.

As increasingly evident, this approach has only aggravated the problems adding more fuel to the anger of the people.

This is the reason why a 24 hour general strike has been called by civil society organisations of Manipur with effect from midnight of July 31.The ongoing relay hunger strike at MU gate would be suspended during the general strike hours in solidarity with the general strike, it conveyed.

It further informed that the MU community will extend full support to the general strike.

The latest attempt by the Sunday Guardian to mislead the people by planting fake news in their publication would only betray the absence of common sense and lack of appreciation of the understanding level of the people in Manipur, it said.

The only recourse available to 'these people' is to admit the fact that Prof AP Pandey lacks capability and commitment to provide academic leadership and administrative guidance to 'Manipur University, it added.

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