Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, February 21:
Making its stand clear, the All Manipur Students' Union has today asked the Meetei Mayek activists to stop burning Bengali script text books.
In a statement issued to the press today, AMSU said that burning text books, even as the students and guardians and parents have to bear the burden of shortage of text books is nothing short of working against the interest of the student community and asked all to stop the text book burning agitation and instead look for other methods to air their demand.
AMSU said that though it has been and will support the movement to revive Meetei Mayek, it cannot remain silent when text books are seized from students and consigned to the flames.
Elaborating, AMSU said that after much struggle and canvassing, the common text books under the common syllabus norm was introduced in the State.
However despite this, the State Govt has not been able to make the text books available to the students on time and the very act of burning the text books, while AMSU is agitating against the non-availability of the text books, is a clear indication that the agitators are acting in cahoots with the Government.
It is also common knowledge that majority of the parents are pressed hard to meet the expenses incurred in buying the text books over and above paying the admission fees and buying school uniform for their children.
As such, seizing the text books from the young children and consigning them to flames is not in any way related to the purpose of promoting Meetei Mayek.
If the Mayek activists are so convinced about burning the text books, then whey don't they burn the newspapers which are published in Bengali script, asked AMSU.
The movement to revive Meetei Mayek should go on and AMSU will support all endeavours, but burning text books to drive home their demand defies logic and is not in the interest of the student community, added the statement.
The student body warned that if any untoward incident occurs in the event of their advice to stop the burning the text books not being heeded, then AMSU should not be held responsible in any manner.
The student body also said that it shares the pain and trauma of the Mayek activists who have been sent to jail.