Clouded in haziness and clearness : The MIT standoff
- Sangai Express Editorial :: September 24, 2013 -

The stand off lies in its haziness and clearness.

It is clear that the college authorities of Manipur Institute of Technology had asked the students to vacate their hostels from September 19.

What however is not clear is why the pack up circular was issued in the first place.

It is also clear that the students are on the war path, demanding the removal of the Principal-in-charge on a number of a charges and allegations.

It is however not clear how far these charges and allegations will stand the test of time.

College authorities asking hostellers, that too students pursuing professional courses, to vacate their hostel is not something which is often heard.

During vacation times, mess are usually closed with the students asked to arrange their own fooding, but this may perhaps be one of those rarest of rare occasions when students have been asked to vacate their hostels.

The ‘vacate order’ issued against the backdrop of the students raising the banner of revolt against the Principal-in-charge, or a circular issued knowingly or unknowingly that students are seldom, if not at all, asked to leave the hostels even during vacation times ?

No clear cut answers, but certainly there seems to be no meeting point at the moment. As things stand now, this very minute, the college authorities have had their way with the students packing up their bags and taking shelter at a nearby community hall at Tera.

Not at all a pleasant situation, certainly not for the students and certainly not for the institute either. But who cares ?

The factor that ultimately led the students to decide to pack up and leave their hostel must obviously be the prohibitory orders clamped at the vicinity of the institution and which manifested itself very clearly in the crackdown launched by the police on the students on September 22, in which at least 17 students suffered injuries of varying degrees.

Other than the pack up order and the allegations raised by the students against the Principal-in-charge, all other aspects are still very hazy.

It is here that the Government must step in and state its position, vis-a-vis the present stand off. Students taking the law into their own hands is unacceptable, but what defies logic and common sense is the ‘quit notice’ issued to the students to leave the hostel on September 19.

One of the more influential and vocal student organisations, the Democratic Students’ Alliance of Manipur, DESAM, has already spoken out its mind and backed the stand of the students of MIT.

If not handled with the sensitivity and maturity the issue demands, there is every chance of it getting out of hand and snowballing into a bigger issue, which would not be healthy for anyone.

First thing first. Now that the issue has come out on the public domain it is incumbent on the part of the college authorities to explain why the students were asked to leave the hostel, a practise which is uncommon.

As for the students, it would not harm to remind them that charges and allegations can be levelled against anyone, but in doing that there should be a corresponding responsibility, a responsibility of backing them up with evidences and proofs.

Or else it would amount to nothing more than shooting in the dark.

The responsibility lies on both sides to clear the air. As stated above, though the stand off or the face off has come to occupy the public domain, no one seems to know the crux of the matter.

It has become a matter of both sides sticking to their stand, without demonstrating any indication that they are ready to budge an inch. Not the ideal way to go about addressing an issue.

Let the Government or the relevant authority step in and arbitrate. No point of view can run parallel to each other forever.

There has to come a time, when a meeting point has to be reached and the first step towards this would obviously be to sit down and talk.

The onus of bringing the two sides to the negotiating table should then rest on the Government or the relevant authority.

Let the impasse end, and let the students resume their academic studies.