Despicable threat to school
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: June 08, 2022 -

MANIPUR police ought to be commended for acting swiftly and round up suspects in connection with the bomb attack at Little Flower School, Sangaiprou as there have been more than a handful cases of explosions targeting private parties, offices and commercial outlets for which no perpetrators have been ever arrested.

Expectedly, in denunciation of the bomb blast at the gate of the reputed only girls' school, protest march was taken outby senior students, pass-outs, parents and teaching staff members of the school on Tuesday in addition to various Catholic educational institutions remaining shut for the day to condemn such dastardly act.

As the blast was triggered in the wee hours and on a Sunday, it's obvious that the intention was to reduce the chance of causing harm to anybody but the very act is not pardonable in any sense for resorting to violent means to target educational institutions is certain to instil fear and anxiety among the learners and teachers.

As pointed out by Manipur Catholic Women Organisation as well as various other civil societies and student bodies, in their statements of condemnation, educational institutions are places where the children are educated and groomed for the future of our society, and should be spared from any disruptive acts.

Needless to say, Little Flower School along with other Catholic educational institutions had been at the forefront of producing quality students but are frequently targeted either for monetary demand or on the ground of alleged irregularities in the admission process.

Such unwanted incidents are indeed condemnable but likely to crop up occasionally as there are elements who don't value contributions of these institutions.

With onus of preventing or minimising such acts of terror and violence lying obviously on the government, whoever is arrested in connection with the latest incident should be grilled to the optimum so as to extract all relevant information and ascertain whether the explosion is connected to monetary demands or admission issues.

While dialogue, peaceful and democratic processes are recommendable to solve all disputes, in Manipur's context it has been a norm for the perpetrators to first adopt violent means to achieve the devilish objective.

No doubt, ensuring education is the responsibility of both parents and public but schools as organised institutions have been shouldering the major responsibility in fostering values in students.

Of late, it could be observed that there has been diminishing morality and work culture among the students, with exception of those who have set life-goal and resilient enough to achieve the same regardless of the obstacles he/she faces.

While it is wishful thinking that no more violent incidents will occur, it is believed that all acts of insanity vis-a-vis targeting of educational institutions, will decline in case school authorities and civil societies voice condemnations and work in unison rather than stealthily ceding to the so-called demands of unwanted elements.

As all schools, be they government or private ones, are valued assets of the society and their role in guiding the students pursue their goal, disturbance-free education remains the only ingredient in the process of inculcating values to equip the learner lead a life that is satisfying to the individual and in harmony with the cherished values and ideals of the society.