Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, August 30:
Continuing the agitation for complete withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Manipur and demanding punishment of Assam Rifles personnel responsible for the killing of Thangjam Manorama and Saichang village pastor Jamkholet Khongsai, students launched mass court arrest, surrendered text books and set study materials on fire in many parts of the State today.
Around twenty students from DM College of Science, Manipur College, Nambol Boy�s Higher Secondary School and Nambol Lairen Girls High School launched court arrest agitation in front of Raj Bhavan today.
With inscribed wording like �Arrest us under NSA�, �Punish the AR personnel�, �Remove AFSPA, 1958�, etc on the placards and banners the agitating students marched up to the high security zone of Raj Bhavan amid slogan shouting at around 12.45 am.
They resisted police personnel's attempt to stop them from demonstrating there, and after a brief confrontation, surrendered and allowed to be court arrested.
Students of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Khum- bong today set their text books on fire near the gate of the Vidyalaya at around 11.40 am protesting against prolonged imposition of Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Manipur.
They also shouted slogans demanding stringent punish- ment to security personnel responsible for brutal killings of Manorama and Jamkholet Khongsai.
Speaking to reporters, the agitating students accused the Government of India of having discriminatory attitude towards the people of Manipur and callousness to problems being faced by them.
They questioned why the AR personnel involved in gang-rape and subsequent murder of Manorama should be spared when Dhananjoy Chatterjee was executed by hanging for the crime of raping and killing of a school girl in West Bengal.
The attempt to shield the guilty AR personnel only shows that Government of India does not have any concern for the sentiment of the people of Manipur, they charged.
On the other hand, around 500 students of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Umathel, Thoubal District today surrendered their text books to the school librarian as part of the ongoing agitation for complete withdrawal Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Manipur.
The agitating students have also announced their decision to boycott classes indefinitely till the public demand for lifting the Act has been accomplished.
At Bishnupur, around 30 students of Gokul High School tore their books into shreds and threw the pieces into the complex of Deputy Commissioner�s office today as they were not allowed by the police personnel to surrender their text books to the officer.
Stepping up the ongoing agitation demanding for the removal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the State and punishment to the killers of Thangjam Manorama, students of the Liberal College Luwangshangbam stormed the Raj Bhavan gate and tried to lodge their protest this afternoon.
Students of the college came to the Raj Bhavan gate at around 112 noon and tried to surrendered their books as a mark of protest against the prolonged imposition of AFSPA in the State.
The police personnel deployed in the area immediately swung into action and stopped the students from proceeding further.
Infuriated at the action of the police personnel the students immediately took off their text books and began tearing them in front of the Raj Bhavan gate.
As the repeated appeals of the police personnel to the students to dispersed failed, all the slogan shouting students were arrested and here into a waiting vehicle and taken away.