Three-month long Manipur University impasse finally comes to an end

The battle for removal of Vice Chancellor Prof A P Pandey lingered on, with the students and teachers community of Manipur University resolving not to give up the fight unless

The battle for removal of Vice Chancellor Prof A P Pandey lingered on, with the students and teachers community of Manipur University resolving not to give up the fight unless their demands are met.

Rejecting one fact finding committee after another, on various grounds, the university community stood firm in demanding the removal of Prof Pandey besides calling for a probe into the allegations levelled against him by an independent Fact Finding Committee.

After initial setbacks and rejection of the students’ demands, the Union HRD ministry and even the state government were forced to take note of the demand of the agitators as the continuous stir threatened to put into jeopardy the future of thousands of students from colleges affiliated to Manipur University.

Support rendered to the students protest by civil society organisations in the state also made their cause stronger.

Complete shutdown of the valley during the general strike called by the university community also reflected the mood of the state thus putting pressure on the state government to push the Centre on the issue.

What followed was a series of meetings between officials of Union Ministry of HRD and the agitating groups including Manipur University Students Union, Manipur University Teachers Association and Manipur University Students Union.

Just when it seemed that the impasse is about to be over, the agitating groups rejected the fresh MHRD order given out following the meets, on grounds that it was not specified in the order whether Prof Pandey will be on leave during the probe period.

This prompted the MHRD to issue a fresh order clearly stating that Prof AP Pandey will be on leave during the probe carried out by an independent fact finding committee on the allegations against the Manipur Vice Chancellor. The move brought about a massive development.

At 4.30 pm today, MUSU president Dayaman spoke exclusively to Northeast Live to announce that the university community has decided to end the 85 day impasse.

#BREAKING | Three month long Manipur University impasse ends. University community calls off strike. #ManipurUniversityImpasse pic.twitter.com/wxFddkWixA

— Northeast Live (@NELiveTV) August 22, 2018

Northeast Live was the first channel to be informed about this development. The announcement means for the first time in close to three months students will get a chance to get back to their classes.

More importantly pending results can now be declared without delay paving way for the students to plan their future endeavours.

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