Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, September 24 2009:
Alleging that the Congress MLAs have been instigating some sections of parents/guardians to raise voice of disapproval against the ongoing 'suspend education' movement on the ground that the children are staring at the possibility of losing one academic year, the AMSU, MSF and KSA asserted that human resource is not constituted by students only but all the people.
A joint statement issued by the three student bodies claimed that the mass movement being spearheaded by the Apunba Lup is in sight of victory.
Regarding their 'suspend education' movement, the student bodies reminded that hundreds and hundreds of students have been bearing the pain of loss of their brothers, sisters, parents due to fake encounters at different localities.
They hailed those parents/guardians who have been enduring all kinds of hardships and supporting the mass movement with a clear understanding that 'our children are only losing some period of their studies but other parents have lost their beloved children in fake encounters'.
Recalling that the students of Assam could not study for a whole year during the intense anti-foreigner movement launched by the All Assam Students' Union in 1979, it said that the people of Assam and the parents/guardians provided full support to the AASU's movement.
Their support was one crucial factor for the success of the AASU's movement which culminated with the signing of the Assam Accord, it said.
The Government of India made up the lost year by declaring it 'zero year' thereby nullifying the period in which the students could not pursue their education.
Had the parents/guardians of Assam students not cooperated with the AASU for fear of the loss of an academic year, the anti-foreigner would have met with abject failure and consequently the identity of Assamese people would have been diluted indistinguishably.
The question of whether students could study or not lies with the Govt of Manipur because the situation came to such a pass as it stubbornly refused to accommodate the appeals and complaints of the people.
Neither Chief Minister O Ibobi is stepping down on his own nor the Congress MLAs are working to topple him.
Under such a situation, it may become a necessity to prolong the movement until the tenure of O Ibobi is over and the students may need to stay away from their studies for about two years, the student bodies said.
The Government coming after the Ibobi's tenure should declare the years lost because of the people's movement as zero years as it was done in Assam.
Some parents/guardians' association, under the sponsorship of the State Government, have been staging sit-in-protest/protest rallies demanding to allow their children study so as to present an awkward picture of the people's movement, the student bodies cautioned that students of those guardians would not allowed to study in any school of the state.
Clarifying that their 'stop education' movement is not a show of their strength, the student bodies said that their young volunteers have been only joining the fight of Meira Paibis against extra judicial killings.
"This is our bounden duty", they added.
Under Okram Ibobi's rule, there is no such category as 'common people'.
Excepting security forces, MLAs/Ministers and bureaucrats, all others have been categorised as insurgents.
Accusing Chief Minister Okram Ibobi of misusing police commandos for his vested interests, the student bodies maintained that other than some favoured police officers and commandos, 90 percent of the employees of Home Department are against Ibobi's rule though they are helpless.
It's time for the sincere and untainted security personnel of the state to raise a 'sepoy mutiny' against the incumbent Government.
Alleging that the Ibobi-led Government has been utilising the money meant for payment of salaries to its employees in suppressing the people's movement, the student bodies observed that the state Government employees would not be getting their salaries even after the movement is over.
As such, employees of the state too need to join the mass movement.
Just like people suffered under the rule of self-centred and despotic rulers in the history, the present generation are also suffering under the anti-people rule of Okram Ibobi, it alleged.
The student bodies nevertheless appealed to all students to continue with their studies at home even though have to stay away from schools/colleges.