Missing of Avinash and Anthony: Organisations unite to find the whereabouts of the two

The missing of two teenagers, suspected to have been kidnapped by armed Kuki militants has brought various CSOs, Meira Paibis, social activists, students’ bodies, and politicians together in a single platform and discuss the course of action to find the whereabouts of the two students. A public meeting attended by representatives of almost all organization was held today at Akham Ground in Imphal West District under Lamshang Police Station.
Ningthoujam Anthony and Maibam Avinash – both students of class X, went missing on November 5, and law enforcers are still clueless about the whereabouts of the two teenagers even after they have recovered their cell phone from a petrol pump in the Senapati district. Besides the two students, the bike that they rode is also untraceable till today. Government machinery and para-military forces including those sent by the Central government have not spoken a single word in connection with the missing of the two teenagers.
Former MLA RK Anand, State Secretary of the CPI Sotinkumar, Retd. Session Judge A Nouteshwari, MPCC Vice President Hareshwar Goshwami, JCILPS convenor Phunindro Konsam, and FOCS President Manihar among others opined the need for working together and uniting the movement for finding the two teenagers and to stop losing more students and teenagers during this crisis.
“We should work together and have ‘one voice’ under one agenda to protect our people”, RK Anand said while talking in the meeting organised by the JAC formed against the missing of two students. He questioned how the two students were kidnapped on the way to Sekmai when there are so many paramilitary forces and police personnel along the line.
“If the government of India cannot protect our children then we need to re-look and re-examine the merger agreement between India and Manipur”, Anand said.
Retd. Session Judge A Nauteneshwari, while expressing her views opined on the need to file a habeas corpus or a PIL to the Manipur High Court to make sure the state machineries including law enforcers speed up their duty to protect the citizens. The former session judge, while, quoting a Supreme Courts order dated August 8 said that the protection of the life and property of the citizen is a state subject and the state should ensure the protection of the life and property of all citizens of the state. However, till today the state administration has not taken up any measures to protect the life and properties of the citizens.
“Internally displaced people still cannot return to their respective houses and on the contrary many houses were destroyed and flattened using bulldozers at Churachandpur district after the people have been displaced”, Nauteneshwari said.
The public meeting was moderated by Social and Cultural Activist Ningthoujam Lancha.