The KSO General Headquarters has extended its support to the bandh called by the All Tribal Students Union Manipur (ATSUM) demanding central reservation policy at Manipur University.In a press statement signed by Laxman Serto, Secretary, Information & Publicity, KSO General Headquarters, the student’s body said that the KSO General Headquarters will lend tacit support to ATSUM in the course of the bandh and has already instructed the KSO district branches to utilise every available resources at its disposal for the successful culmination of the bandh.“In 2008, the student leaders of tribal student organisations, which include ATSUM, KSO, ANSAM & MUTSU had courted arrest in the face of the state government crackdown on tribal students over the same reservation policy. The tribal students are still resolute in their stand against any injustice that infringes their rights”, the statement added.It said, every citizen must understand that in the new Gazette of India dated 20-6-2012 an amendment has already been promulgated in the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006. As per the amendment, reservation of 31% for ST is to be followed in admission of students in central universities located in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and the Sixth Scheduled areas of Assam.Therefore, the recent issue raked up by some individuals raising a hue and cry about it, is unsolicited. If the MU authority and the state government allowed themselves to be swayed by unscrupulous individuals in the university by neglecting the voices of MUTSU and ATSUM, it will be regretful. What the MUTSU & ATSUM demands is our rights granted by an Act of government. Trying to snatch away these rights is not going to serve the unity and integrity we clamour for but instead leads to disintegration and chaos.The KSO urges the state government and MU authority to tread carefully over this delicate issue and urged the state government to settle the matter before it gets out of hand.
