Manipur: Naga students body extends support to ATSUM's 12-hour bandh in Manipur

The All Naga Students Association, Manipur (ANSAM) and Kuki Students' Organisation (KSO) have extended their support to the 12-hour shutdown called by the All Tribal Students' Union, Manipur (ATSUM) on April 24 from 6 AM to 6 PM.

In an official statement, the Naga student association said, ''ANSAM is perturbed with the perfidious nature of the authority of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) for failing to respect and abide by the resolutions written in the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed between the RIMS and ATSUM in presence of state government on April 3 pertaining to the issue demanding scrapping and rectification of the recently declared result for the appointment of Lower Division Clerks (LDCs).

''ANSAM has decided to support the 12 hours band in the best interests of the whole tribal populace and Lawmaker in India demanding for the implementation of the rights given in the constitution to uphold the sanctity of democracy in India,'' it added.

On the other hand, KSO urged the general public to cooperate and appealed to its constituent units and sub-ordinate bodies to strictly endorse the proposed bandh in their respective jurisdictions with an understanding that the RIMS authorities will be solely responsible for any untoward incidents.

On April 22, ATSUM decided to go ahead with its proposed 12-hour shutdown tomorrow to protest the failure of RIMS to implement the reservation in jobs.

ATSUM had announced a 12-hour bandh in the hill districts of Manipur on April 24, in protest against the alleged non-compliance of the RIMS with the agreed-upon reservation for Scheduled Tribes (ST) in job appointments. 

The decision came after RIMS failed to honor the agreement made on April 4, which had called for fresh results for the post of LDC with reservation as demanded by ATSUM.

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