A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Why the Careers of Displaced Students should not be left High and Dry!

In an earlier article titled “War on Education: Will the Meiteis’ Attempt to Destroy the Intellectual Properties of the Kuki-Zo Backfire?” published in this Bulletin on February 5, 2024 (TLM Issue No.145), we argued that the Meitei think-tanks had carried out a carefully designed attacks on the Kuki-Zo to destroy their intellectual properties and disrupt the emerging scholarship on their history once and for all. We also anticipated that this evil project of the radicalised Meitei groups could backfire even though it already affected many. In fact, the destruction of a huge quantity of research materials, documents and certificates, many of which are irretrievable, had affected many scholars, intellectuals and students alike. But it also provokes the younger generation to try harder to recoup the loss incurred by this unfortunate evil design of the demonic extremist Meiteis who are hell-bent on destroying or disrupting the slowly increasing educated Kuki-Zo cognoscenti in research and job markets.

It is now an established fact that the ongoing ethnic violence is not just a sudden outburst of few unruly thugs but a carefully planned ethnic cleansing campaign with the intention to not only cleanse the Kuki-Zo from Kangleipak (the valley) but also to destroy their subsistence economy and break their political backbones as the British did after the Anglo-Kuki War, 1917-1919. In the process, one area where the Meitei think-tanks presumably give paramount importance was to attack them in the field of education with an aim to finish off their future. Perhaps by the time the ongoing state-sponsored ethnic cleansing pogrom ends, the career of thousands of Kuki-Zo will be spoiled forever. This can't be done without a well-planned strategy!

In this article, we will try to analyse how far the Kuki-Zo students pursuing different courses in Imphal, the capital city of Manipur, will be affected if the current ethnic violence continues beyond the current academic year without the positive intervention of the Central Government to save their careers which now hangs in thin air. Here we will highlight how students opting for technical education including medical and engineering are the most affected lot, and suggest why the only way forward available is crucial not only to save the careers of the displaced students but also the future of the nation.

It may be noted that since the current ethnic violence broke out on May 3, 2023, a number of Kuki-Zo students who were displaced from Imphal have been accommodated in different institutions in the hills. Though most of these students are from the general courses, some of them are also from teacher’s education and such other professional streams. Despite many hardships faced, they are somehow able to continue their studies through various means including online mode. But there are many others whose careers are left high and dry for reasons as simple as lack of support from the concerned departmental staff to unavailability of facilities in the hill districts. The most affected lots are those from Medical (including MBBS, BDS, and Nursing), Engineering and such other professional and technical courses. Similar is the case with research scholars [PhD Students].

According to data compiled by KSO General Headquarters, the total number of displaced medical students from the three premier medical institutes in Imphal (JNIMS, RIMS, SAHS [Shija]) is 123. This include 78 from JNIMS [UGs – 53 (43 MBBS and 10 BDS), Interns – 12 (11 MBBS and 1 BDS), and PGs – 13]; 29 from RIMS [UGs – 19 (14 MBBS and 5 BDS), Interns – 3 (2 MBBS and 1 BDS), and PGs – 7], and 16 from SAHS (Shija) all UGs.

As for these medical students, it was initially thought that they might be accommodated at the newly established Churachandpur Medical College (CMC), Lamka, and any other institutes outside the state according to their choice or availability of courses. But this is yet to happen till date. Whereas those Meitei students from CMC were accommodated at JNIMS, the state-run Medical College in Imphal, those Kuki-Zo students from JNIMS, RIMS, and SAHS (Shija) are denied the same opportunity. Instead of accommodating them at CMC or elsewhere, the Meitei state government has been trying to shift the College from Lamka. This was visible when its foundation day celebration was organised in the valley district of Bishnupur. Moreover, despite repeated appeals including a peaceful rally by the displaced medical students demanding alternative arrangements, no such preparation has been made so far to accommodate them.

Similarly, those Nursing students who were pursuing different courses in various institutions in Imphal have been unable to find a suitable place to continue their course. Whereas a very few of them, especially those pursuing ANM, are able to continue their studies in the hill districts, the majority of them are left out without any choice.

For Engineering and Physical Sciences, there are about 50 displaced students including PhD from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) alone, another institution of national importance in Imphal. For them, there is neither a place to continue their courses in the hill districts, nor any attempt has been made to accommodate them outside the state.

The same is with those pursuing various courses in Pharmacy, Agriculture, and such other courses. In Pharmacy alone, there are about 70 displaced students from Imphal.

For research scholars pursuing PhD in Manipur University, DM University and such other institutes of higher education, it is again a mix story. For some, particularly those belonging to the Social Science disciplines and Humanities, they are able to continue their doctoral degrees through online mode provided the scholars have good rapport with the supervisor and the department. But for those who are unable to get necessary support from the department, there is a very slim chance of continuing, or completing, their research. However, in the case of scholars belonging to physical, mathematical, earth and life sciences where practical or laboratory experiments are required, there is no way to continue through online mode even if they are given moral support by the department.

Recently, there was an order from the honourable Supreme Court to accommodate the displaced students either in Assam University, Silchar, or North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong, or allowed them to complete their course trough online mode. Yet, even under these circumstances, the Meitei dominated institutions in Imphal remained largely non-cooperative for the Kuki-Zo students. Whereas some students are somehow able to continue their studies through online mode thanks to the kind-hearted staff and officers there, many of them are still left out. The only solution, therefore, is the active intervention of the Central Government to make things done for these students who are desperately waiting for a miracle to happen, a miracle only Shri Narendra Modiji and Shri Amit Shahji, with their cabinet colleagues’ support can do. With the Central Government’s vision to bring a revolution on technical, vocational and higher education under the ambitious National Education Policy (NEP 2020), the Kuki-Zo communities are thriving with a slim hope on the BJP led government at the Centre.

In this regard, the KSO General Headquarters has been writing numerous memoranda to the concerned authorities, both at the national and institutional level, to help the displaced students accommodate in various institutions.

Therefore, the Central Government must initiate necessary steps to accommodate all the displaced students, irrespective of their ethnicities, in various institutions within or outside the state where their respective courses are available. This will not only help the affected students to complete their courses but also make a good name for the current dispensation about its seriousness in looking after the interest of the students who are the future pillars of the nation.

In a nutshell, the careers of those who are displaced due to the ongoing ethnic violence should not be left high and dry. Instead, alternative arrangements must be made for them to complete their courses for the good of all before it is too late. As the saying goes, “A stitch in time saves nine!”

(Courtesy: KSO Bulletin Thingkho le Malcha, Issue no.157, February 17, 2024).