After 13-day hiatus, schools, colleges in Imphal Valley, Jiribam to reopen from Friday but not in Kakching

Educational institutes in these districts have remained closed since November 16 after the dead bodies of three women and three children in Jiribam were recovered from the Jiri and Barak rivers in Manipur and Assam respectively.

Guwahati: Conflict-torn Manipur on Thursday decided to reopen educational institutions in Imphal Valley districts and Jiribam from Friday, November 28 after a hiatus of 13 days — two weeks after they were closed when fresh violence broke out. 

The institutions in Kakching, one of the districts in the Valley, however, would remain closed as the administration on Thursday decided to maintain the curfew in view of tensions on Wednesday. The curfew in Kakching would be relaxed between 5 am and 10 am and the same will be till 4 pm in Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur, Chandel and Jiribam districts. 

The administration, however, extended the curbs on mobile and broadcast internet in seven districts till Saturday. 

An order issued by the Directorate of Education- Schools said, "Normal classes will resume for all schools of the state, government, government aided, private and central schools from November 29."

The government educational institutions or government-aided colleges under the Higher and Technical Education Department, including state universities, will resume classes with effect from Friday, a separate order said.

The educational institutions were closed on November 16 when the Valley districts erupted in protests against abduction and killing of three Meitei women and three children allegedly by Kuki insurgents in Jiribam district. The protesters resorted to violence after their bodies were found in a river. Houses of at least 13 Ministers and MLAs were set on fire or vandalised by the protesters.

The protesters alleged that the BJP-led government failed to rescue the six and demanded immediate action against their killers. CM N. Biren Singh said a combing operation was underway in Jiribam in order to nab those involved in the crime. However, fresh tension gripped the Valley on Tuesday after a Meitei man, working in an army camp in Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi district, went missing. The man have still remained traceless.

The conflict involving the Meitei and the Kuki communities have kept Manipur on the boil since May last year. At least 258 people have died and over 60,000 others have been displaced due to the violence and action by security forces.