The National Students’ Union India (NSUI) on Friday alleged that the central BJP government was unhinged by the Manipur crisis because of the state’s weak political presence in national politics.
“The Centre’s attitude would have been different if Manipur had over 40 seats in the Lok Sabha but since it is only two the central authorities are sleeping on the issue; the issue would have been resolved within no time if it happened in Rajasthan or Uttrakhand,” national president of NSUI, Neeraj Kundan, said.
Speaking to the media on the last day of his two-day visit to Manipur at Hotel Yaiphaba, Imphal, Neeraj stated that it was time for both the central and the state governments to wake up and start taking necessary actions to rein in the crisis.
"The double-engine BJP government is taking the whole issue casually and waiting for the crisis to blow over instead of discussing and dealing with it," he added.
He pointed out that NSUI had been demanding for instillation of peace in Manipur ever since the crisis erupted and lambasted the prime minister for remaining mute on the crisis for over two months.
“It took him nearly 80 days to open his mouth on the issue; for him to claim he was monitoring the Manipur issue was contradictory to his actions,” he said.
He pointed out that every crime committed in the crisis should be dealt with equally and not be painted in maligned narratives to benefit vested political interests. Every crime committed should be investigated and dealt with as per law, he stated.
The NSUI president maintained that he had been on a two-day visit to Manipur to assess the plights faced by displaced students in relief camps.
“We visited several relief camps and listened to the grievances of students to ascertain NSUI’s future course of action to mitigate the issues,” he said.
He noted that students in relief camps had no access to proper study materials such as textbooks and notebooks and on top of that they were reeling under immense financial difficulties, especially college students.
“The college students whose admission has been changed to other colleges are struggling financially to keep up with the transportation and other charges and since they do not have access to the internet they cannot study as well,” he said.
As such he demanded authorities concerned to provide basic necessities to the students and provide them with the proper facilities so that they could propel forward in their academic career.
Students dreaming of going for higher studies are greatly impacted; how will they compete with other students in the rest of the country, he asked.
He further extended condolences to families who lost their loved ones in the crisis and stated that NSUI would continue to voice the concerns of the students on the national platform.
He also appealed to all people to maintain peace so that normalcy could be restored in Manipur. Members of state NSUI were also present during the press meet.
