Detention of students under NSA; DESAM calls 120 hrs general strike
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 13 2009: Democratic Students' Alliance of Manipur (DESAM) has announced that 120-hour general strike will be imposed with effect from midnight of July 15, if the student leaders who have been arrested and detained under NSA, following the killing of Prof Islamuddin of Manipur University, were not released without any condition at the earliest possible.

Dharna staged to demand the release of students

Addressing a press conference in this connection at Manipur Press Club here today, DESAM president LC Santosh said education, medical and religious functions would be exempted from the purview of the general strike, which would be just the beginning of a series of intense agitations to be launched until the State Government wakes up to the demand to release the innocent student leaders.

If the Government fails to release them even after the general strike, then immediately, after the general strike all the MLAs and Ministers would be socially boycotted and curfew imposed in all the Government offices, the DESAM president said, adding that after this, all functions related to the Government would be boycotted and all concerned would be banned from hiring out material related to the conduct of these functions.

Steps would also be taken up to stop the water tankers from supplying water to the MLAs and Ministers, he said, adding that if the arrested student leaders were not released even after all these agitations, then emergency would be announced in Manipur indefinitely.

Decrying the arrest and detention of the student leaders, without any evidences of their involvement in the case, the DESAM president demanded to know why the Government has not taken up any action against the Ministers and MLAs in connection with arrest of UGs and arms from their respective quarters.