Education in the hit list of militants in Manipur

Headlines Vol. 3 Issue No. 43

February 1-15, 2008

Education in the hit list of militants in Manipur

Militancy continues to affect the normal activities in Manipur and one of the worst hit sectors is school education. The States prestigious Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya was recently closed for three days due to the threat for ransom from banned outfits. The classes were resumed after the school authorities promised adequate security.

The ransom notice and the threat to kill principal alarmed the guardians and the concerned parents, who came to take home their wards. Everybody was scared to talk, and after a great deal of persuasion, one member of the school staff agreed to talk on the condition of not coming on camera. Around 90 per cent of the parents had come and took their wards away from the school. It is going to hamper the career of many students, who are studying over here, said one of the teachers.

More than half of the 500 boarders living in the boys and girls hostels of the school had left. Some students staged sit-in protest for restoring normalcy in the school. The students and the guardians were worried as final-year exams for Class X and Class XII are scheduled to begin on March 1.

Some teachers have been staying away from class, while others have not been able to concentrate because of the militant threat. I think higher authority will look into the matter to help in solving this problem. I want to work here in a normal situation, with a good academic environment. As our mission is to produce good students for the better future of the nation, added another teacher.

The idea was obvious to keep the people scared and rule the roost. But people have understood the game of the underground groups. They urged the authorities to take action against militants. People wonder why does the government fail to act against militants when there is so much of public support. We dont like such kind of things — shooting here and there. As we all want to have peace. We dont have peace in our society, said one of the residents.

Another resident added, it is the question of collective responsibility of the council of minister as well as of the MLAs, board of ruling and opposition party. So, it is a result of political nexus between the different parties. Last week, people came on the street after some underground groups abducted an official of the education department for ransom. Though the official was released later, one thing however was clear that the militant groups are selectively targeting the education sector, of course not for the first time.

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