Imphal, June 09 2009: Accusing the Government of launching a witch hunt, DESAM today said that five students including one of its members have been arrested and detained under NSA because the Government is wary of the campaign launched by the student body to improve the education system in the State.

In a statement issued to the press today, DESAM said that it is the wish of every oppressor to let the oppressed class wallow in ignorance so that they can continue their misrule.

However after DESAM came into being in 2002, it launched a campaign to cleanse the education system said the student body and added that in just a span of 7/8 years it has achieved something significant.

The drive against unfair means during examination, the check against teachers who were more interested in going after contract and supply works, the culture of corruption at times of recruiting teachers and officers including MCS, MPS and others, the habit of giving gifts and bribes to ensure the success of one in any examination, gradually made the people believe that if an even field is laid out, then any hard working students can excel.

This led to such a situation that children of Ministers, MLAs and officers who were sent outside to study in the best of schools and colleges, were no longer in a position to monopolise the posts of officers, alleged DESAM.

Sensing that the future of their children can no longer be safe in the face of stiff competition, the Government started the crack down on DESAM, said the statement and alleged that it was for this very reason why five students including one of its members have been arrested and detained under NSA.

Asserting that the charges framed against the students are all fabricated, the student body said that the Government should not invite more trouble.

The public knows what DESAM has done all these years and no agenda of the Government can defeat this, it claimed.

The student body further said that though one IRB personnel has voluntarily surrendered to the police in connection with the assassination of Prof Md Islamuddin, nothing has come out of it.

Chief Minister O Ibobi who also holds the Home portfolio as well as the DGP, ought to be tried under law since one of their men has owed up his involvement in the crime, said the student body.

Questioning whether there is the rule of law in the State or not, DESAM said that if there is indeed a law of the land, then everyone should abide by it.

Otherwise it would be better to declare the land as a lawless place said DESAM and added that the Chief Minister and the DGP cannot treat the law as their personal heirloom.

Stating that the sole objective of DESAM is to cleanse the education system in the State, the statement said that it is for this very reason why it has not imposed any bandh, general strike or any agitation that would have a negative impact on education.

The very action of the Government suggests that it wants DESAM to unleash violence, said the student body and added that it has never indulged in any activities that can invite the NSA.

Everyone knows this, it asserted.

The crackdown launched on the student community is nothing but an attempt to sideline the real issue, which is the assassination of Md Prof Islamuddin, contended DESAM and added that all the students have been arrested and detained under cooked up charges.

If the Government does not want any untoward incidents, then it would be best for them to release all the detained students, said DESAM.

Comment