State govt-JCLIPS confrontation out in the open
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, September 11 2014: A day after the Government of Manipur decided to declare holiday in educational institutions across the State for an indefinite period with an eye on dissuading the students from taking part in the ongoing movement for implementation of Inner Line Permit system, the Students' Wing of the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) has announced that it would enforce an indefinite 'curfew' on business activities of non-locals in Manipur from tomorrow until all its demands are met by the Government.

Addressing a press conference here, co-convenor of the Students' Wing S Subhachandra said, "We've decided to enforce an indefinite curfew on business activities of non-locals in the state from tomorrow until all the 12 activists of ILP movement including students arrested by police are released and Additional Superintendant of Police (Traffic) Yengkhom Victoria is suspended from service" .

ILP Protest by Meira Paibi

He warned of action if any of the non-locals were found defying the curfew.

Condemning the decision of the State Government to declare indefinite holiday in all educational institutions, Subhachandra said shutting down schools and colleges to dissuade the students from participation in the ongoing movement cannot obstruct the ILP movement any way.

The Government should not forget that it had committed such blunders in the past too, he added.

Accusing the Government of trying to scuttle the ongoing public movement for implementation of Inner Line Permit to check influx of outsiders, Subhachandra further alleged that the Government in cahoots with Additional Superintendant of Police Victoria has been trying to crush the movement.

JCILPS, Students Wing has never collected fund from the public nor beaten any non-local during the verification drive.

So, the charges levelled against the 12 ILP activists are totally baseless, Subhachandra said, while seeking the cooperation of the people in enforcing the curfew on business activities of non-locals from tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the decision of the state government to close down all educational institutions in Manipur for an indefinite period with a view to control the impending severe agitations for implementation of Inner Line Permit System in the state has been widely condemned from various circles.

Denouncing the state government decision, DM College of Science Students' union in its press release said the declaration of indefinite holiday is against the educational rights of students.

Highlighting the loses and inconveniences to be faced by the examination appearing students, the students' union urged the government to immediately lift the indefinite holiday and also to release the students arrested during the ILP movement.

In a release, the Student's Union of DM College Commerce denounced the arrest of 12 students of the JCILPS student's wing by police on September 8 .

Terming the indefinite closure of schools and colleges as unfortunate, the students' body also blamed the government for affecting the career of the students with its short-sighted actions.

While the students unions of various institutions are striving to maintain educational institutions as free-zone and also to bring about quality education, the state government is acting against the academic career of the students, it alleged while appealing to the government to end the unrest among the students arising out of the ongoing movement.

Students' unions of Ananda Singh Higher Secondary Academy and Naorem Birahari College Khundrakpam also expressed strong exception to the government decision to close down the educational institutions indefinitely in the name of taming the ongoing ILP protests.

In their press releases, the student bodies called upon the government to resume classes in the schools and colleges considering the academic career of the future pillars of society.

Reacting to the declaration of holidays for schools and colleges, the Workers Union Manipur, in a press statement, urged the state government to revoke its decision and resume normal classes.