Firefighters of the Manipur Fire Services on Tuesday launched a cease work strike after five of their personnel were allegedly assaulted physically by personnel of the 16 JAT Regiment while on duty in full uniform in Imphal East on Monday.
Decrying the incident, firefighters of Manipur Fire Service, Imphal, staged a protest in front of its Imphal head office located near Pologround, Imphal, on Tuesday.
A sub-officer of Manipur Fire Service, S Jivan Singh, told the media on the sidelines of the protest that a fire call was received from the SP Control Room, Imphal East district, at around 1:20 pm on Monday. The firefighters immediately rushed to the spot, but when they reached Remedy Hospital, Pureiromba Khongnangkhong, Imphal East, a huge mob blocked the firefighter’s vehicle.
He said that the protesters told them not to extinguish the fire or that the mob would attack them. Due to the tense mob, the firefighters were not able to reach the spot to extinguish the fire, the officer added.
Meanwhile, some personnel of 16 Jat regiment reached out to the firefighters and asked them to extinguish the fire. When one of the firefighters asked the personnel of the 16 Jat regiment to assist the firefighter team, without asking further questions, they started assaulting the firefighters with their sticks, said Jivan.
The same (JAT) Regiment had reportedly assaulted three media personnel from Manipur wearing "Press Vest" while covering the arson at New Checkon the same day.
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Condemning the incident, the personnel of the fire service demonstrated on Tuesday morning in front of their office in Imphal and demanded the suspension of the personnel involved in the attack. They also resolved to cease their work until those involved in the attack were suspended.
"We will not respond to any incident of fire until the personnel of the JAT Regiment involved in the attack are suspended," said sub-officer S Jivan while speaking to the media.
Such is an act of "undermining" the state uniform service by the central forces, he said, adding, "if they are permitted to carry on such aggressive attacks to the personnel of the state in uniform, we can't even think about their attitude towards the civilians”.
Meanwhile, a team of the 16 JAT Regiment, led by a Major visited the office of the Manipur Fire Services to console the injured personnel of the fire service.
The Major apologised on behalf of the regiment and informed them that the incident was due to a certain misunderstanding.
Assuring that this would not happen in the future, he further assured that he would initiate action against those personnel of the JAT Regiment involved in the attack.
However, the personnel of the fire service refused to accept the apology until the personnel of the regiment involved in the attack were suspended.
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