Police Action: Condemnations pour in
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, July 08 2015 : Expressing its grief over the death of Sapam Robinhood, the Joint Students' Co-Ordination Committee (JSCC) has condemned the incident and said this is not the first time that such crimes have been committed by police personnel.

Pledging to extend full support to any movement by JCILPS in future, JSCC also demanded dismissal of those police personnel who involved in the killing.

Kuki Students' Organisation (KSO) General Headquarters has taken strong exception to the State police's highhandedness against agitating students demanding Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the State, which resulted in the death of Sapam Robinhood Singh, a Class XI student of Ananda Singh Hr Sec Academy on Wednesday.

In a statement issued by KSO General Secretary Seiboi Haokip said the student body strongly condemns the way the students were manhandled by the police.

It seems the Manipur Government has no options other than firing tear gas, lathi-charge, physical assault and shutting down of schools, it said.

The world has now seen the ineptness of the State police force in handling situation.

It is unfortunate that students of the fairer sex were subjected to the same treatment as the boys.

This is just unfair.

The students agitated just to voice their grievances to the Government, KSO said.

It said people generally convey their grievances to the State Government, but the State police are making the situation worst by using force.

The Home Minister must understand that to resort to violent means at the drop of a hat is uncalled for on his part, KSO stated.

Immediate promulgation of CrPc 144 won't solve the problem, it said, adding that the students are not agitating to disrupt the assembly session; they are agitating because their cause is being neglected by the Government, it maintained and added that the students will carry on the agitation beyond the assembly session now that the cat is out of the bag.

Immediate imposition of Crpc 144 is not the ideal solution, it said while stating that the KSO neither supports nor opposes the movement, it is just concerned over the manner in which the situation is being handled.

KSO also said it expresses its deepest condolences and shares the pain and grief of the bereaved family of late Sapam Robinhood Singh.

In a separate press note Student's Welfare Committee (SWC) said the killing of a student in the ILP movement was due to Government's failure to pay heed to the public issues and violation of human rights in the State.

The student was intentionally killed, SWC alleged and said no force will be able to suppress the ILP movement in the State and the Forum (united 16 clubs of Thongju part I and II) will continue to support until the ILP demand is met.

National Identity Protection Committee (NIPCO) while condemning the incident asked whether the politicians are not the indigenous people of Manipur.

NIPCO with public support will launch different forms of agitation against the failed Government, a release said.

It said the Government has failed to listen to public grievances and acted like enemy against students.

The demand for implementation of ILP in the State is for the generation as well as for the future, it said and urged the Government and armed forces to understand the fact.

Now the Government and all leaders should resign over the killing of the student, it demanded.

The All Manipur Government Higher Secondary Lecturers' Welfare Association had condemned the police act of killing a class eleven student at Ananda Singh Higher Secondary School identified as Sapam Robinhood , 16 years of Keishamthong Thangjam Leirak who was taking part in a rally demanding a fresh ILP Bill in the State.

The Centre for Organisation Research and Education (CORE) has condemned the Manipur Home Department on Wednesday for the 'extreme abuse of power' and its failure to maintain the law and order.

State BJP has said it strongly condemns the killing of an innocent student of Ananda Singh Higher Secondary school during the mass protest demanding implementation of ILP in Manipur by the State security forces on Wednesday at Hatta near Minuthong in Imphal East.

"It was an inhumane act against the innocent student who was participating a protest for a right cause in a democratic State," said a statement from BJP Manupur Pradesh general secretary ( Adm ) Asnikumar Singh.

"We deeply share the grief of the family of the victim.

May his departed soul rest in peace forever in the heaven as he has sacrificed his precious life for the cause of the State," it said.

The responsible security personal must be terminated from the service immediately and initiate a proper judicial inquiry for the incident which has cost a person's life, the party demanded.

This is a complete failure of law and order in the State, BJP said and added that this incident is not the first one which has exemplified the failure, in fact there has been many other such incidents in the past.

It demanded that the Government should resign on moral grounds in the interests of the people of the State.

A CORE press release said the reported fatal injury suffered by a young boy of 16 years, Sapam Robinhood Singh, S/o Romesh of Keishamthong Thangjam Leirak, presently residing at his mother's home at Khurai Lairik Yengbam Leikai and studying in class XI (Science) at Ananda Singh Higher Secondary School, Nongmeibung was avoidable and preventable.

He was reportedly shot with a tear gas shell on his left cheek at close range and was rushed to Public Hospital Hatta and was later referred to Raj Medicity, North AOC where he succumbed to the injuries inflicted by the Manipur Police, it said.

It has been reported that a large number of students numbering more than forty also sustained injuries and are undergoing treatment at various hospitals around Imphal, CORE said.

"We condemn the totally unjustified abrupt imposition of indefinite curfew by the Government in both Imphal East and Imphal West from 3:30 pm following the incident," the organization said.

It said peaceful demonstrations and rallies are the very foundations of the democratic will of the people and the fundamental rights of freedom of expression and assembly protected by the Indian Constitution, and not to be confused with deterioration of law and order.

It is evident that the Government of Manipur is not just an anti-people Government but it has also openly infringed upon the democratic principles of the country, CORE said.

CORE also shared the grief of the families of Sapam Robinhood and all the injured young students and demanded immediate lifting of the curfew imposed in the two districts and constituting of an independent and fair judicial inquiry into the incident.

CPI (M) in a press release also condemned the unfortunate incident where student Sapam Robinhood died.

It said the incident clearly shows that Manipur police do not know how to control public agitations and how to handle them in democratic movements.

Befitting action should be taken up against the police personnel involved in the killing to avoid further unwanted agitations in future, it demanded.

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