Lesson to be learnt
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: August 28, 2014 -

Like every year, All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU) on Wednesday observed Hunger Marchers’ Day in remembrance of the students who sacrificed their lives and sustained injuries in police action during the historic protest march taken out on August 17, 1965 against artificial scarcity of food grain and the impact of high price rise faced by the people of Manipur.

Apart from offering floral tributes to the martyred students at their memorial site located at Pishum Chingma Macha and releasing of a souvenir to mark the occasion, a mass rally was taken out and a public meeting held to culminate the commemorative event like every year.

And like every year, various public leaders who shared the dais in the meeting spoke recalling how the apex body of the students in Manipur came into existence after this historic march by hungry students and how AMSU since its inception and rise from the blood shed by the martyred students has come to play a pivotal role in taking up various important issues of the State be in on academic, social and political front including movement for Statehood and protection of territorial integrity of Manipur, establishment of university, promotion of Manipuri language and its scripts and inclusion of the same in the 8th Scheduled of Indian Constitution, control of price rise of essential commodities, foreigners’ issue or safeguarding the rights of the people, etc.

No doubt, Hunger Marchers’ Day of August 17, 1965 and the subsequent birth of a powerful students’ body are turning point in the history of students’ movement not only in Manipur but also in other parts of the Northeast region.

Until then, there was no common platform for all the students apart from the schools and colleges having their own students’ unions which were elected annually to look after the interest of their respective institutes.

So, one pertinent question that needs to be pondered over by everyone, especially on a special occasion like the observance of Hunger Marchers’ Day is, when we have so many student bodies and organisations today, why some of the issues which were there 49 years ago are still coming to haunt the State and its people even today.

The collective unity of the students which was witnessed during the protest march against artificial scarcity of food grain in Manipur as a direct consequence of unholy nexus between the corrupt elements in the State administration of that time and influential wealthy businessmen who were given free hands in exporting the rice produced in the State to outside solely for some shared profits is not to be seen anymore.

In fact, increased in the number of student bodies and organisations in the State today only seems to have drifted apart the student community from their common goals and aspirations.

Perhaps, it is high time for all the students in Manipur to think over this point seriously, because an answer to this could very well be the most befitting tributes one could ever pay to the martyred students of Hunger Marchers’ Day.