At least 10 government schools have been set afire in four Naga-inhabited hill-districts of Manipur on Wednesday.
The identity of the miscreants, who set the schools ablaze, could not be ascertained. But the senior police officials suspect that the arson could be linked with the students’ stir for changing the school curricula in the hill-districts.
The All Naga Students’ Association of Manipur (ANSAM) has been spearheading the agitation in the hills. The students’ body however has not confirmed or denied its role in the arson that started in the small hours of Wednesday.
Manipur’s Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh called upon people to help the government protect the schools from arsonists. He ordered the police officials to rush additional paramilitary forces to deal with the arsonists.
Since mid-2006, the ANSAM has been agitating for introducing the curricula of the secondary education board of neighbouring Nagaland in all the schools of Manipur’s hill-districts.
The students’ body has been insisting that the curricula of the Board of Secondary Education of Manipur (BSEM) do not reflect the culture and tradition of the Nagas.
Govt adamant
But the Government of Manipur strongly reacted to the ANSAM’s stir and ordered all government schools to strictly adhere to the BSEM curricula. Several private schools switched to the neighbouring State’s curricula though.
“The government schools in the Naga Hills were warned against following the BSEM curricula,” said the ANSAM vice president Sounee Khapa.