Imphal, April 30 : Student organisations AMSU and DESAM have alleged that certain individuals who manipulated manipur University Students' union election process to their advantage and to position themselves as MUSU functionaries had been issuing misleading statements through the media.
These individuals posing as the authorities and occupying Students' Home in the varsity should immediately cease making theatrical comments, said a joint statement of AMSU and DESAM while asking the Vice Chancellor, Registrar and authorities concerned of the varsity to do the needful as such a sordid precedent if re-enacted by other students in the future is certain to demean the highest institute of learning in the State.
Contending that the MUSU election needs to be reviewed and revoked and until an arrangement is made no individual or group should indulge in activities that would vitiate the academic atmosphere, the joint statement also stressed that the VC, Registrar and other MU officials consider the issue with all seriousness.
claiming that the poll process has many faults but carried out at the behest of some individuals, AMSU and DESAM said from the issuance of election notification to prohibiting preparation of identity cards, insistence on producing/attaching original certificate at the time of filing nomination only for the circular to be nullified after the lost date of filing nomination papers that provisional certificates could substitute the original document is a testimony of the MUSU election conducted on the sly, elucidated the student bodies.
recounting resignation of Prof RK Hemkumar as the RO on the day of scrutiny, alleged extraction of signature of the Asst Registrar Rashmi for appointment as the RO without the knowledge of the Dean of Students' Welfare and flashing of the office charge hand-over report through the media that to without consent of MU justify AMSU-DESAM's assertion that the MUSU election process was in violation of the prescribe norms, the joint statement maintained.
Rather than the need for AMSU-DESAM to remind that the MUSU election had not been conducted in accordance to rules and regulations, extensive publication of the matter in state dailies from April 15 till date leaves no room to speculate that the public might still be naive on who is on the wrong side, the bodies observed and expressed that those who manipulated the election process to his/her advantage is also certain to have realised their futile attempt to wrap the entire episode.
Opining that statements of clarification issued through the media by those individuals who had erred or acted to serve interest of the guilty ones testify that the MUSU election was carried out in contravention of prescribed norms, the joint statements issued by presidents LC Santosh and I Jamesbond Mangang of the DESAM and AMSU respectively further affirmed that the MU authorities ordering enquiry on the matter underscores that conspiracy theory in the MUSU presidential election could not be ruled out.
Under such a circumstance including the MU declaration that recognition had not been accorded to the new MUSU office bearers, it would be foolhardy for all concerned to assume that the MUSU election had been conducted in the proper way, they cautioned.
therefore till the matter has been resolved amicably MU authorities should initiate all possible measures to prevent entry of unauthorised person/s to the Students' Home or publish statements in the name of MUSU so as to preserve sanctity of the varsity, the joint statement said.
While demanding that the students' Home be declared a 'restricted area', AMSU-DESAM also called upon the MU authorities to strive for solving the matter at the earliest so as to present the only Central University of the State in a palatable manner ahead of the arrival of the Chancellor Prof PN Shrivastava tomorrow.
Shillong, April 29 : The Khasi Student's Union (KSU), spearheading the movement against the proposed uranium mining, today reiterated its opposition to the mining project and the proposal to set up a nuclear plant in Meghalaya. ''Our long opposition is based on the hazardous effects and deadly fallout that will surely arise if the mining is allowed to take place,'' KSU president Samuel Jyrwa told reporters after airing their views on uranium mining to Governor R S Mooshahary.
The KSU leaders drove to the Raj Bhavan after villagers from the proposed uranium mining areas in the state's West Khasi Hills district had urged Mooshahary to issue a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) to start the long-pending Kylleng-Pyndeng-Sohiong uranium project. Even though the Centre had issued NOC to UCIL, until and unless the state government gives approval, the company cannot go ahead to mine the mineral, the KSU chief said.
Jyrwa said the organisation also informed the governor that about 75 per cent of the people had opposed the proposed uranium mining citing the reasons on the grounds of the effects on health, influx of non-indigenous people, land alienation and militarisation. ''Therefore, the KSU demands the Centre to cancel the proposed uranium mining project and strongly urge not to adopt any measures of inducement, intimidation and force against the people who are demanding the guarantees for the safety and security of the generations to come,'' he said.
The UCIL has proposed a Rs 1,046 crore open-cast uranium mining and processing plant at Mawthabah near the mining site. New Delhi also proposed to sanction Rs 800 crore for development of infrastructure in the proposed uranium mining areas. Sources in the UCIL said the Centre had made up its mind to kick off the Uranium project in Meghalaya very soon. The state government too is said to be aware of the developments regarding the Centre's stand.
India has an urgent need of fuel to feed its nuclear power plants which have been functioning at about half their capacity of 4,000 MW due to shortage of nuclear fuel. ''We understand that the Government of India is very much in need of Uranium but we cannot compromise the issue with the danger posed from mining of the mineral,'' Jyrwa added. Earlier, the governor had indicated that mining of uranium in the state would be carried out within next year in view of India's urgent need for nuclear fuel.
New Delhi, April 28 : The Centre has allowed deemed-to-be universities to drop the prefix distinguishing them from varsities, granting the institutions the right to market themselves in a manner that could confuse prospective students and their parents.
Unnoticed in the heat and dust of the elections, the government has passed an executive order allowing deemed universities to call themselves universities. The move followed sustained pressure from some institutions keen to market themselves as varsities, government officials told The Telegraph.
The daughter of a veteran politician is on the board of one of the institutes that stands to benefit from the subtle change, sources said.
Deemed universities will continue to offer degrees not recognised as university degrees, though they can drop the deemed-to-be tag from advertisements, admission prospectus or any other public hoarding or document.
At present, all deemed universities are required to specify this status alongside their name on all public documents, advertisements and on prospectuses.
The only way a student can now identify a deemed university from a full-fledged university is by looking for a sterile statement all deemed universities are required to carry in advertisements or their prospectuses.
The new University Grants Commission executive order requires deemed universities to carry under their name, and the word university, a statement that they are “recognised under Section 3 of the UGC Act”.
Institutions are granted deemed-to-be status under Section 3 of the UGC Act. But that detail is not known even to every official of the human resource development ministry, let alone a student setting out for higher studies.
The country now has as many as 124 deemed universities. These include top public-funded research institutions like the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, both in Mumbai.
Several popular private higher educational institutions such as Bharatiya Vidyapeeth and Symbiosis in Pune, Birla Institute of Technology, Pilani, and Vellore Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu, are also deemed universities.
Deemed university is essentially an Indian idea conceived to groom institutions so that at some point of progression they can be transformed into universities through legislation.
But in recent years, the proliferation of deemed universities has raised questions over the standard of education offered by some institutions seen as “fly-by-night” operators.
The HRD ministry itself is constantly battling to ensure that deemed universities fulfil the claims they make to students and their parents.
“Now the concern will only rise. An ordinary student cannot be expected to look out for a tiny statement below the name of an institution... he wouldn’t know its significance in any case,” a senior government official said, adding that he was “perplexed” by the decision.
In India, universities can only be set up by an act of Parliament or a state legislature. This is required to ensure that universities, the hubs of the country’s higher learning, are accountable to the people.
Deemed universities, however, require no legislation to be set up — any institution can apply to the UGC for the status, and if deemed fit, can receive the tag. This mechanism of granting deemed university status to institutions has come in for severe criticism from review panels, such as the Professor Yash Pal committee on higher education, set up the government.
The UGC and its officials have repeatedly faced allegations — from parents, students and institutions themselves — that the deemed university status is “sold” for a price.
But the differences between a university and a deemed-to-be university run much deeper.
There are no regulations at the moment binding the fee that a private deemed university can charge. Universities, even private ones, are governed by rules overseen by the Centre or the state concerned.
Imphal, April 27 : The government’s appointment of an unqualified person as chairman of the Council of Higher Secondary Education Manipur against the rules and regulations could be due to corruption, said A Thoithoi, education secretary of the DESAM.
The statement was given during a press meet held today at the office of DESAM. Thoithoi further added that after the retirement of N Ibobi Singh as chairman of COHSEM, on April 24, 2009 the secretary of education (S) PK Singh passed an order appointing S Gita, additional director, education (S) as chairman. However, she did not have the necessary qualifications according to rules and regulations.
According to the rules the post of chairman should be held by a person who is a director in the directorate of education (U); director in directorate of education (S); principal of a government college for not less than 15 years; reader of selection grade lecturer.
He asked whether the state had no qualified person for the post and said that the newly appointed chairman would be boycotted by the DESAM.
Imphal, April 27 : Making a scathing attack against the MUSU election committee 2009-10 with regard to the EC's press statement issued on April 24, aspiring presidential candidate K Ranjita alleged that the election committee had lost their minds.
In a statement, Ranjita said that her protest against making original certificate of class XII mandatory while filing nomination papers was on the ground that the time given to collect original certificate was too short and that it lacked logic.
For a student belonging to far off places like Jiribam and interior areas of Churachandpur, Tamenglong etc who have gone home for the April 16 Parliamentary poll, they had no chance to know about the MUSU notification until the late hours of April 15, that too if their friends here took the trouble to inform them through telephone.
As they had to exercise their franchise, they could come back only on April 17 and reached Manipur University in the evening.
On the next day, when they go to file their nomination papers, they would see a new notification making it mandatory to enclose original certificates of class XII.
Under such circumstances, it was impossible to collect original certificates of class XII on the available single day for it required verification by the heads of schools/colleges, she asserted.
Ranjita also questioned how could students who passed class XII from Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Guwahati, Shillong obtain their original certificates within the given three days' period (two days for students belonging to Outer Manipur Parliamentary constituency) .
Noting that the regulation which made it mandatory to enclose original certificates was not mentioned in the election notification though it was inserted in the nomination form, Ranjita asserted that the election process was conducted under a conspiracy.
Regarding the election committee's claim that many candidates could file their nomination papers along with original certificates, Ranjita said that only those who were a party to the conspiracy or who knew about the conspiracy in advance could meet the deadline.
The elections for MUSU were always keenly contested, she noted while questioning as to why there were no rivals this time.
One fundamental reason for this was the inability of the aspiring candidates to obtain original certificates of class XII, she said.
Coming to the meaning of the word 'formal', Ranjita said that the word does not necessarily mean only what is written in paper.
Explaining that the word 'formal' means what is official or it may mean a conventional practice, Ranjita claimed that verbal approach or representation was very in practice in MU at the time of elections.
She maintained her and other students' verbal appeal/representation to the election committee, the students' Dean and the VC were very much formal.
The election committee talking about 'formal application/complaint' only exposed that it knew its mistake 'informally'.
The only thing was that it was not 'formal', said Ranjita while asking whether the election committee deemed it unnecessary to rectify its mistakes unless there was a written complaint.
Saying that the incident of throwing of eggs and tomatoes at the office of the VC by some infuriated students was not on the day of scrutiny, she asked the EC to correct its misleading press statement.
Acknowledging that no one has the right to question any decision taken by the Election Committee, Ranjita, however, alleged that members of the committee seemed to be lacking basic knowledge of law and common sense.
It is an universal law that in the event of any amendment to a constitution, the basic structure should be left unchanged.
Should the MUSU election committee apply the new regulation, there should be prior debate, a general body decision and due notification issued in advance, Ranjita observed.
Above that, the time given by the EC was irrational, illogical and practically impossible.
Quoting popular sayings "An unjust law in not law at all", "Power without justice is tyranny", Ranjita appealed to the Election Committee not to be tyrants.
Had Dean of Students' Welfare Prof Islamuddin resigned on April 18, in what capacity the Prof showed up on the day of scrutiny ? Why didn't the election committee raise any objection ?.
Prof Islamuddin's resignation was not accepted by the VC till April 20, as such he was still a Dean on the day, Ranjita asserted.
Although it is true that the election committee is constituted by the MUSU president and is an autonomous body, the RO is appointed with the permission or at least knowledge of the Dean.
Explaining the degree of autonomy enjoyed by the election committee, Ranjita said that without the knowledge of Manipur University authority, appointment of RO or declaration of election results cannot be made official, she contended.
The election committee is not fully independent but should function under MU authority within the parameters described above.
Moreover, the election committee is not empowered to formulate rules which are inhuman, irrational or illogical, she said.
The appointment of a new RO without knowledge of the Dean after the former resigned was totally unconstitutional.
As per the conventional election rules of MUSU, the new RO could not be given recognition.
Referring to the last minute assent given by election committee to file nomination papers with provisional certificates on the request of three candidates, Ranjita asked about the election committee's notice which could be bent either way.
"Didn't it mean that whoever in the good book of the committee would be allowed to contest elections and others would be prohibited ?", Ranjita asked.
She further questioned as to how the committee forgot its commitment that no student with forged certificate would be allowed to become leader of MU students at that moment.
"How did the committee know that no one among the three candidates had forged certificate ?" Ranjita questioned.
Further if the election committee was really concerned about any one with forged certificate contesting elections, not only the original certificate of class XII but also of BA/BSc/BCom and MA/MSc/MCom should have been made mandatory, Ranjita observed.
She further questioned the meaning of issuing a notification which allowed filing nomination papers without original certificates when the time for filing nomination was already over.
Asserting that holding her responsible for any possible untoward incident to any of the election committee member was illogical, Ranjita accused the election committee of giving birth to the present issue.
The election committee was responsible for the restless and insecure situation prevailing in MU as well as for the looming threat to the academic atmosphere.
The election committee should be held responsible for both what is good and bad, she countered.
Reiterating that the MUSU election conducted by the election committee through faulty process was not acceptable, she demanded that the MUSU election should be held anew after correcting all the faulty processes.
Until and unless the demand is met, there would be no respite in the ongoing agitation/movement, Ranjita said while seeking cooperation from students and the public towards this end.
Imphal, April 26 : The dispute over the conduct of election to the post of president of Manipur University Students' Union (MUSU) persisted with the spurned presidential candidate K Ranjita Devi slamming the Election Committee with allegations of being partial and preferential treatment.
Reacting to the clarification issued by the election committee and published in the media, Ranjita Devi in a statement ridiculed the Committee's eleventh hour notification that every aspiring candidate needs to submit original certificate of class XII at the time of filing nomination papers.
Insisting that the particular notification circulated on April 15 evening meant candidates were left with no option due to time constraint, Ranjita said as election for the Outer manipur Parliamentary constituency was slated for the next day (April 16) aspiring candidates were certain to miss the deadline as many of the students had left for their respective place to exercise their democratic rights.
Pointing out that such a criteria for the contestants to submit class XII original certificate within a limited period was intended to ensure election of candidate of the Committee's choice, Ranjita also reminded the Committee members on the procedural complications in obtaining the documents.
Further contending that she had also apprised the Committee on the time constraint in submitting the said document, Ranjita further posed why the Committee inserted the criteria in the nomination form.
Not ruling out conspiracy theory and ulterior motive in the issuance of the notification, she also recounted that never in the history of the manipur university Students' Union (MUSU) elections had the presidential post been filled up without a rival candidate.
Further highlighting that in addition to the manipur university Students' Union (MUSU) president and 22 of the councillors having been elected without contest, Ranjita claimed that three departments yet to be represented owing to absence of contestants is a testimony of favouritism and preferential treatment of the Committee.
Moreover, the fact that some of the councillors had not complied with the formality prescribed by the Committee itself nullifies the stricture that the entire election exercise had been based on viable formality, the president aspirant noted.
Regarding the issue of Dean Prof Islamuddin tendering resignation but the intimation not accepted by the Vice Chancellor till april 20, Ranjita demanded clarification from the Committee what status had been accorded to Prof islamuddin during the interim period when he showed up on the day of scrutiny on april 18 .
other alleged anomalies listed by Ranjita included hasty appointment of RO and the Committee's insistence that any untoward incident arising out of the MUSU poll should be shouldered by her.
Imphal, April 20: Because of the ongoing Operation Summer Storm, schools located in Nongmaikhong and Khordak have been shut down for the last nine days, thereby denying the right to education to more that 1168 children.
In the backdrop of GOC 57 Mountain Division Maj Gen Shakti Gurung's statement that the operation will continue till all insurgents staying in Loktak lake are wiped out, parents are worried whether their children will lose this academic year because of the operation.
Gripped by fear, villagers of the surrounding area of Keibul Lamjao National Park, particularly Nongmaikhong and Khordak have been taking shelter at relief camps opened at Ithai Bazar community hall, Arong Khunjao and Laphupat Tera Khunou along with their children.
Among the people taking shelter at these relief camps are teachers of schools located in Nongmaikhong and Khordak areas.
These schools have been closed since April 11 .
During a visit to some places of Nongmaikhong and Khordak by this reporter, the schools were found locked.
On the other hand, young students staying at the relief camps lamented their misfortune which robbed off their right to education.
One Salam Dhaneshwari of Nongmaikhong Awang Leikai taking refuge at Ithai relief camp said, "I send my children to school to make them qualified ignoring poverty of the family".
"Will such military operations throw all my efforts to educate my children in the air ?" she asked.
There are four schools in Nongmaikhong.
Nongmaikhong Junior High School has classes I to VIII and 235 students.
Emmanuel Grace Academy having the same classes has 330 students.
In all 85 students are currently enrolled in Nongmaikhong Government LP School having classes I to III whereas 97 students are enrolled in Nongmaikhong Girls' Primary Aided School having classes I to V .
There is equal number of schools in Khordak which includes Khordak Government Primary School with 57 students enrolled in classes I to III .
Khordak Public English School has classes I to VI and 164 students.
Khordak Khongbal Aided Junior High School and Eden Garden English School have 100 students each.
One Salam Malemnganba reading in class VIII at Emmanuel Grace Academy said, "I feel sad for not going to school.
With my books left behind at out house, it has been eight days since I stopped studying my books".
"Since my parents are fishermen who have been struggling hard to send me to school, I would like to study properly and join Air Force," the young boy said.
Another Class IV student of Eden Garden English School Naresh said, "We have not been attending classes since as our school has been occupied by army.
Even as they tell us to continue with our classes, none of the students attend school out of fear".
On being asked about what they think of the booming sounds of bomb blast and gun fire, the young students said that they were so terrified and fear that the sounds would haunt them long after the operation.
Notably, the villagers have been demanding an immediate halt to the operation asserting that it threatened their life besides denying the children the right to education.
Guwahati, Apr 11 : The All Assam Students Union(AASU) today demanded complete annihilation of terrorism in the state.
In a statement, the union made it clear that nothing less than crushing terrorism would satisfy them.
AASU advisor Dr Samujjal K Bhattacharya said, ”We want complete annihilation(of terrorism). Specially those being sponsored by Islamic forces. The government is soft towards Muslim terrorists. It does not order crack down in the Char areas, which have been infested by Islamic terrorists.” Regarding the elections, he said none of the political parties addressed the larger issues of the state.
”The Congress conveniently forgot the infiltration issue as well as the ‘Assam Accord’ although the same was signed by the husband of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. The BJP had nothing in their main manifesto and the AGP never talked about education. We do not need manifestos, which are nothing but meaningless documents. We need action plan,” he said.
The AASU urged the electorate to express their opinion and select candidates sympathetic to the genuine problems and issues of the state. The AASU in fact listed infiltration, education, unemployment, flood and communal harmony as the main issues before the elections.
Imphal, April 8 : Joining the outcry against the assault on MUSU president Ksh Narayan and ECHO editor Ng Milan, the Oriental College Students' Union has condemned the assault in the strongest term.
A press release issued by the union asserted all student organisations should work to avoid such incidents in future.
Attacking the leader of a student body for some annoyance is an act of mafia gangs who could not think deeply.
Observing that student unions of schools/colleges may come under similar attack for some dissastisfaction or anger, it appealed to all student unions to be alert and careful.
The Oriental College Students Union also pledged unstinted support in all its activities/initiatives.
The Naorem Birahari College Students' Union has also decried the assault on MUSU president Narayan and Milan at their office by DESAM volunteers who were numerically much superior.
The physical assault on the MUSU president was an act of gangsterism and was tantamount to assaulting the whole student community of Manipur.
The student union further asserted that all student bodies should stand for genuine students who are studying.
It's time to unmask all those who have been masquerading as students, it added.
Meanwhile, a press release issued by SFI Manipur State Committee maintained that SFI would condemn any assault on MUSU president regardless whether the president is a representative of any student organisation.
For such an assault, the SFI need not look for the reasons behind the act, it said.
Asserting that Manipur University is a place of learning but not for practising 'goondaism', the SFI also condemned the reported assault on two students by unidentified persons in the university's men's hostel on April 4.It urged upon the authority concerned to book all those involved in the assault.
The SFI further appealed to the MU authority to take up all precautionary measures to avoid any untoward incident within its campus in future.
On the other hand, the DM College of Science Students' Union has appealed to all concerned to avert recurrence of the ugly incident that took place between MUSU and DESAM.
The student union also questioned the unawareness of MUSU about the MU Executive Council meeting and its decision.
It asserted that the arrest of two leaders of a student body could not restore academic atmosphere in Manipur University.
Dibrugarh, April 7 : Lakhimpur town today witnessed a groundswell of public outrage over the deaths of 14 people in yesterday’s hooch tragedy with the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) spearheading the protest against illegal liquor trade that has allegedly struck deep roots in the district.
The students’ union has also demanded a judicial inquiry.
Official sources said the state government had suspended two excise department officials, including the superintendent of excise of Lakhi-mpur district, Padmeswar Pegu, for dereliction of duty and their alle-ged nexus with illegal liquor merchants.
A two-hour sit-in was organised under the aegis of the North Lakhimpur Regional Students’ Union of the AASU at AASU Swahid Bhawan from 10am. All the 22 local units of AASU in Lakhimpur district staged black-flag demonstrations.
“We have demanded a judicial inquiry; we believe that an influential lobby of corrupt politicians in collusion with the excise department and police to some extent are working behind the scene to ensure that the illegal liquor business continues to flourish in the district,” the president of the Lakhimpur district committee of AASU, Amal Goswami, said.
The students’ union will move the Human Rights Commission in this regard. “Some people are playing games with the lives of others in blatant violation of human rights. We have, therefore, decided to move the rights panel,” Goswami said.
The students’ union submitted a memorandum listing their demands.
Pator, who is also the Lakhimpur Sadar circle officer, came to meet the students during their sit-ins.
Lakhimpur deputy commissioner Jayant Narlikar today said over telephone that the period of magisterial inquiry had been extended by another couple of days.
IMPHAL, April 6 : Regarding the incident of assault on the president of the MUSU, a press meet was held at the office of the DESAM today.
In the meet Y Ratankumar, secretary general of the DESAM said it was unfortunate that a student organisation working for a political party and research club based at MU has put charges against the DESAM. The DESAM accept that the act is undemocratic but making a person understand is natural.
And looking at only one side of the assault on the MUSU president and not the wrong works of the president was unacceptable and undemocratic.
Putting a question to SFI, he asked if the act of DESAM was undemocratic why Narayan targeted and hurt the sentiments of DESAM without any instigation.
It was unfortunate for the MU authorities including VC to protest the incident of assault on the MUSU president without condemning the works of Narayan in letting down the image of MU.
The DESAM apologised to the people and specially teachers of MU for disrupting the academic atmosphere and added the incident might not have happened if Narayan worked for the betterment of education and did not play with the sentiments of DESAM.
He also added that if Narayan did not apologise to the DESAM then further action would be taken to make him understand.
Meanwhile, a press statement from Ananda Chongtham, general secretary of the MUSU, said that after the terror attack at the MUSU office, the DESAM is trying to hide their fault by blaming the president of MUSU of throwing tea on the members of DESAM.
The statement further alleged that DESAM tried to break the sit-in protest by making their own drama at Hostel No. 1 which was totally uncalled for and an attempt to divert the issue.
Regarding the selection of professor of physics department, it asked why the DESAM did not interact at that particular time and give any comments.
It asked if it was the fault of the MUSU president that Ashirjit became president of DESAM.
It further added that the past president of MUSU could not bring up the problem of Ashirjit but in the tenure of Narayan he did so and this was a achievement of the MU and MUSU. The DESAM is angry over the bringing up of the fake certificate issue.
It is time to teach a lesson to DESAM that their theory of ‘might is right’ was wrong.
It added that DESAM named their members who carried out the terror attack as ‘heroes’ but such a social title should be given by the public instead of by themselves, it said while asking them to return the spectacles of Narayan, Airtel Data Card (Internet), External HDD 160 GB (Laptop HDD with Caching) and documents of MU and MUSU after which the DESAM would be welcome to bring a solution.
Brief History
From time immemorial, the Kuki were inhabitants of their own fore-fatherland which along the sides of the Chindwin River (Twilen) of present Burma and the hill areas or present Manipur State, India. The Kuki are a peace and freedom-loving people. They rose up in the rebellion can be judged from the fact that if affected all the Kuki inhabited areas. Due to their superior arms, the British were able to subjugate the Kuki after a long drown-out struggle of three years (in 1917-1919). So many Kukis of the war leaders were arrested to Taungyi jail and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Henceforth, the Kukis lived under the sovereignty of the British Colonial rule. The Kuki inhabited areas were also divided into two parts; the eastern region became under the rule of Burma and the western under the rule of Assam State of India, according to the “divide and rule policy” of the British.
When the British government offered independence to their colonies, after the WWII, the Kuki leaders signed freedom from the British government and agreed to with together with the Burmese under the leadership of General Aung San who is he father of Burma’s independence. Unfortunately, when Burma gained independence, the Kuki were neglected and all their contributions were forgotten. “Divide and rule policy” was followed among the Kuki people. Both the parliamentary democracy government and BSPP (Burma Socialist Programme Party) period, the Burmans of upper Burma and lover Burma were settled in the Kuki areas to swallow their cultural and religious of Kuki peoples.
There was a coup-de-tat in 1988 by the military junta, whereby the hardship of the Kuki multiplied, following a policy of Burmanization, the government populated the land which had been hither to belonged to the Kuki for generations, with Burmese immigrants, threatening to swallow their religion, culture and nation.
One of the worst affected following he establishment of military rule were subjected to secant torture, flogging and rampant violation of the Kuki basic human rights. The innocent Kuki masses thus suffered intolerable harassment under the military junta. In human fate mated out to force pro-democracy of Kuki youth and many Kukis to take refuge inside Indian and where they began to setup to fight against the military junta and to restore democracy in Burma among the oversea Kuki students and youth. Thus, the KSDF (B) The Kuki Students’ Democratic Front (Burma) was born on 12th December 1993.
Aims and Objectives
• To fight against the military junta to the end; and to establish a genuine federal democracy in Burma
• To create Kuki State in the habited land areas of Kuki forefathers so that the Kuki people will be able to get national security for socio-economic, culture, religion and national rights.
• To establish national solidarity among the Kuki people
• To get peace and development of Kuki people to the whole country in future Burma
Contact addresses:
• Delhi Branch: WZ-87(A), Bodella Market, Vikaspuri, New Delhi 110018, India
Telephone:011-25572572 E-mail: ksdfhq@yahoo.co.inlulun12002@gmail.com,
• Moreh Branch: Ward No. 3, Dalpati Road, Near Morning Bazaar, Moreh, Manipur
795131, India Telephone:03873-261667
• Korea branch: Mr. Chuchung Kuki, 872-10 ShiHung Bon Dong, Kum Chun Gu,
Seoul, South Korea E-mail: chuchung2003@yahoo.com
Website: www.ksdf.org
Students of the Parijat Academy in Pamohi, Assam, organised a Gandhi Peace Walk to promote peace and non-violence. The peace walk was lead by the academy’s patron Gravin Brown.
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