School at the receiving end of arson : Time for introspection
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: April 27 2019 -

So many unanswered questions at the moment.

And even as this commentary is being penned down, a senior IPS officer is set to address the media on the inferno at St Joseph’s Higher Secondary School, Sugnu late in the night of April 25.

The English edition of The Sangai Express missed the news as it was already past the deadline when the news did reach the office but a brief report was carried in the Manipuri edition of TSE.

Not very clear whether the inferno was an act of arson but preliminary reports coming in and from the condemnations received from different organisations, it is more or less likely that it was an act of arson.

The question is, just what do these elements hope to gain by setting a place of learning on fire ?

Not the first time that a school, a temple of learning, in fact has been targeted and this is just simply not tolerable.

Just a few days back, it was another Mission school which received a grenade as a present at its gate and now this.

The State Government need to get its act together and pull up all those behind setting the school on fire.

At the same time it is also important for society as a whole to rise unitedly and say a big no to such tactics of brow beating an institution, which is there to spread education to the common people, into quiet submission.

The very fact that the said school, St Joseph’s Higher Secondary School is located at Sugnu should more than say that the prime objective of setting up the school is to reach out to the children residing in far flung places.

It can also be seen as a noble attempt to break the monopoly of Imphal based schools in producing bright students in the State.

Would it have been possible to set the school on fire without support from the immediate surroundings ?

This is one angle from which the investigating agency may proceed with their probe.

Not the first time that a place of learning has come under attack and as noted here in an early commentary, this will not be the last either.

This is where the people as a whole need to come together and raise a voice that says a big no to these elements who do not hesitate to set on fire a place which is there to cater to the needs of the young students, particularly youngsters from the interior parts of the State.

Not surprisingly a number of voluntary organisations have risen as one to condemn the arson but let it not stop at mere condemnations via the newspapers and the media.

Let there be a concerted effort from all concerned to say a big no whenever educational institutions come under threats and diktats from the numerous power players which abound in the State.

Let the people of Sugnu also take the lead in coming out strongly against such acts of intimidation.

What is it that the arsonists wanted to convey ?

If they are under the impression that education can be taken for a ride, yes a ride, by setting fire to a school, then they are hugely mistaken.

This is where society as a whole has a big responsibility and at the same time let all civil society organisations and student bodies themselves introspect sincerely why educational institutions have come under the sharp glare of some of these elements.