Guwahati: The Joint Students’ Body of Lamka in Manipur, has demanded that all government institutions in the town observe every Friday as a holiday.
The students’ body in a statement said that this is a form of resistance against the ‘state-sponsored’ ethnic cleansing that is taking place in Manipur.
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Joint Students’ Body said that the ongoing violence has affected all walks of life in Lamka.
“Apart from our martyrs who are waiting for their last rites in Lamka Medical College, our martyrs in RIMS, JNIMS, and other hospitals at Imphal Valley are yet to be identified and brought to their respective home districts for their last rites. The situation we are in now is a matter of survival as we have no other option but to save ourselves from being wiped off the face of the earth,” the statement said.
The outfit said many people have been killed, and that many more have been displaced from their homes.
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It further that the government has failed to adequately address the violence and that they are now taking matters into their own hands.
The students’ demand for a weekly holiday is a symbolic gesture of their resistance to the government’s inaction.
“In order to make the government (of the Centre and Manipur) hear and as a form of resistance against the government of Manipur under N. Biren Singh, the Joint Students’ Body, Lamka had adopted a resolution on August 18, 2023, stating that “all institutions of the government of Manipur, including government schools/colleges in the town, to observe every Friday as a holiday,” it added.
The outfit said that they will continue to protest until the government takes steps to stop the violence and protect the rights of the people of Lamka.
The outfit urged all concerned authorities to comply with their “Standing Resolution” in the interest of public welfare.
The students body warned that failure to comply with their demand will lead to “unnecessary provocations” that could have a negative impact on the town and its surrounding areas.