Academicians seek immediate intervention to end violence
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, June 12 2023:
More than 50 academi-cians from Manipur, who are currently working in various institutions in the nation-al capital region, including Jawaharlal Nehru University Delhi, University of Delhi, Jamia Millia Islamia, Indian Statistical Institute Delhi, and IGNOU Delhi, among others, have come together under the banner of The Delhi Manipu-ri Academic Fraternity and submitted memorandums to the President of India, Prime Minister, Union Home Min-ister, and Defence Minister to take immediate and lasting measures to end the violence and restore peace in Manipur.
The academics made several suggestions in their memo-randum to help contain the turmoil and restore peace in Manipur.
They have called for lifting of the blockade on Na-tional Highway 2 (NH-2) to allow unrestricted movement of people and essential com-modities and emphasised the need for the Union and state governments to restore law and order in Manipur and re-gain the trust of the general population, regardless of their communities.
To address the challenges at the Indo-Myanmar border, the academics recommend de-ployment of specialised bor-der guarding force to curb the movement of narcotics, arms, and militants.
They emphasised the importance of preserving Manipur's existing geographical boundary and administrative arrangements, as any changes in these could potentially lead to social and ethnic conflicts.
The memorandum also high-lighted the need to amend Article 371 C to promote eq-uitable and fair economic de-velopment in society.
It called for constitutional protections to address the concerns of the Meetei community regarding land, resources, culture, and demography.
While appreciating the government's efforts to form peace committees, they urged the Union Government to actively facilitate continuous dialogue among conflicting communities, involving po-litical parties, civil societies, intellectuals, and community leaders.
In addition to the relief packages announced by the Union Government for the victims of violence, the mem-orandum urged further action to rebuild damaged hous-es, temples, and churches, and compensate for the loss of movable and immovable properties of internally dis-placed people.
The academics empha-sised the need for unhin-dered access to medical and humanitarian aid for the victims and the movement of displaced people for es-sential and emergency health services.
They also stressed on the importance of imple-menting educational, rec-reational, and healing pro-grams for children suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The memorandum recom-mended that Manipur Uni-versity and other educational institutes create conducive environment for displaced students, teachers, and non-teaching staff members.
Lastly, the academics call for the restoration of inter-net services to ensure un-interrupted education and online classes for displaced students, as well as for es-sential economic services, while also monitoring social media activities.
They em-phasised the need for swift and strict action against mis-information and hate speech in print, visual, and social media platforms.