Newmai News Network
Imphal: As many as 54 students were hospitalized on Tuesday as police backed by Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel cracked down on students who protested after photos of murder of two missing students went viral on social media.
Nearly three months after two students from Imphal went missing, they were presumed killed after their photographs surfaced and went viral on the internet.
Twenty-year-old Phijam Hemjit and 17-year-old Hijam Linthoingambi, residents of Imphal West, went missing on July 6 last amid the ethnic crisis that rocked the state since May 3 last.
Related | Photos of 2 missing Meitei students suspected to be killed go viral; students in Imphal city erupt into agitation
With the ban on internet lifted a few days ago, photographs showing the two missing students sitting next to each other in a green outdoor area while two men carrying arms standing behind them in the background and showing them slumped on the ground next to each other, with Hemjit’s head missing surfaced in the social media platforms.
The photographs angered people in the valley areas. A large number of students carried out separate demonstrations in Imphal and other parts of the valley districts, seeking justice for the two students.
Students of various schools in and around Imphal came out of their respective schools, boycotting their classes of the day and staged demonstrations.
Initially, students demonstrated in front of their respective school campuses while displaying placards, some of them read as “We want Justice, Bring Peace”, “We strongly condemn the brutal killing of Hijam Linthoingambi and Phijam Hemanjit,” etc.
Related | Manipur Violence: Govt orders closure of schools; students condemn use of excessive force; internet ban re-imposed
The protesting students of CC higher secondary school, Imphal, began blocking the road in front of the school in the afternoon followed by a protest rally allegedly targeting the chief minister’s secretariat which is only around 100 meters from their school premises, defying the barricades which the security forces erected in case the demonstration turns violent.
In a bid to disperse the students, the police, backed by a large number of RAF, fired tear gas shells and mock bombs. In the action, around 31 students were injured with some of them being hit by tear gas shells.
While talking to the reporters, a leader of the agitating students said that the government must book the culprits who are behind the murder of the two students immediately and award befitting punishment for the end of justice.
“We demand that the state government apprehend the culprits promptly. We will continue our agitations until and unless the culprits are brought to justice,” he said.
Also Read | MP Lorho Pfoze flags off project on TB Elimination in Senapati district
Around the same time, students from Ibotonsana higher secondary school at Uripok formed a human chain on both sides of the road at Uripok Kangchup road.
It was followed by a rally on the streets in which security forces blocked them in front of the western gate of Kangla fort. As the students tried to go ahead with the rally toward the chief minister’s bungalow despite repeated warning, the security forces fired several rounds of tear gas shells and mock bombs, injuring some students.
In the meantime, a large number of students from TG higher secondary school and GP women college also marched toward the chief minister’s bungalow.
They were also dispersed by the police and RAF personnel firing tear gas shells and mock bombs. In the melee many students were injured.
Students of Ananda Singh higher secondary, Checkon also clashed with the security forces at Konung Mamang where they were prevented from further proceeding towards CM bungalow.
Also Read | 4th Ukhrul Squash Festival cum Fete kicks off at 35 AR Outpost
Students of various schools and colleges in Imphal and its outskirts also rose up and staged protests blocking roads in front of their institutes’ premises.
There were reports of protesting students clashing with the police and security forces in other parts of the valley districts during the day.
As per reports from the hospitals in Imphal, as many as 54 students were admitted in four major hospitals in Imphal. Sources said that 43 students were admitted at Raj Medicity hospital, North AOC, nine at RIMS hospital, Lamphel, two at Asian hospital, Kwakeithel and one at JNIMS hospital, Porompat.
In the aftermath of the crackdown on the students at various places, people at various places in Imphal protested on the streets in their respective areas by blocking roads.
Women vendors of Khwairamband keithel, including all-women-run markets suspended their business in the afternoon and staged a demonstration by blocking roads outside their markets.
Also Read | Tangkhul Mayar Ngala Long condemns harassment of journalist by AR subedar; demands immediate apology
In one of the protests erupted from the Singjamei area of Imphal where a large number of people, mostly womenfolk, marched a rally towards the CM’s Secretariat along NH-102, the police and RAF personnel baton charged the protesters after being unable to control them despite using tear gas shells and mock bombs.
The protesters also retaliated, resulting in clashes that injured some of them.
About The Author
