Imphal, August 11 2009: The KSO has strongly condemned the BT Road fake encounter and the evasive tactics being allegedly resorted to by the Government.

A press release issued by the student body asserted that the 'fake encounter' which claimed the lives of innocent Rabina and Sanjit was not the first of its kind.

The commandos have engineered umpteen number of fake encounters and such notorious extra-judicial killings have always been the modus operandi of the police commandos, it alleged.

"The KSO has a long history of confrontations with the police department over fake encounters perpetrated by commandos.

Unfortunately for the KSO or other students' organisations, NGOs and JACs, there were no Tehelka photos to slap the police commandos on the face.

This time around, the police commandos have no choice but to admit their guilt", it said.

Recalling of the various cases of excesses committed by commandos with total impunity including the one in which five innocent students who had come from Moreh were mowed down at Hatta with AK rifles by commandos, the KSO reiterated its strong objection to deployment of commandos and IRB personnel in hill districts.

All organisations representing the people in the nook and corners of the hills areas have already made their stand clear on the Government's plan, the KSO observed while asking the Government to withdraw its decision before it gets itself trapped in a tangled mess of civil unrest and chaos.

In a similar tone, the Manipur University Tribal Students' Union (MUTSU) has also joined the outcry against the BT Road killings.

In a press release, MUTSU decried the utter failure of the Chief Minister to diffuse the present imbroglio.

"The Chief Minister should be held responsible for bringing the state to a standstill for more than a week by imposing unnecessary curfew rather than using his wisdom and conscience to bring back normalcy", MUTSU said.

Asserting that curfew cannot be a solution to the issue, MUTSU demanded immediate resignation of Chief Minister on moral ground.

The student body also expressed serious doubt over the competence of the DGP and the SSP.

It said that they too should gracefully step down before they commit another blunder.

While conveying its desire to suspend all forms of protest and agitation before August 13 as the Apunba Lup has reportedly set a deadline for the Chief Minister to resign by the same day, the MUTSU expressed its gratitude to the Tehelka for exposing the July 23 fake encounter.

Asserting that the Cabinet decision to deploy commandos and IRB personnel in the hill districts would only invite more troubles and human rights violation, the MUTSU welcome the planned protest in the five hill districts against the same decision.

The MUTSU would not remain a silent spectator in case the Government tries to go ahead with its decision, added the release.

Comment