School torched, Gun-firing continues in peripheral areas of Lamka; KSO rejects Health Directorate's admission notification

Even after more than two months since the ethnic violence began on May 3, sporadic violence of arsoning and gun-firing still occurred in peripheral areas of Churachandpur district bordering Bishnupur, since the last 24 hours.

On July 22 evening at around 7:00 PM, Meitei armed groups allegedly torched a School building belonging to Kuki-Zo community in Torbung area, under Churachandpur district and heavy gun firing ensued thereafter. The Children Treasure School was completely burnt down and indiscriminate firing between the warring communities began overnight until today evening.

In retaliation to the ensuing violent incident allegedly perpetrated by the Meitei armed groups, the Tribal volunteers also burnt down several houses belonging to the Meitei community.

The gun firing and heavy bombarding in the peripheral areas, adjoining Bishnupur district, occurred since yesterday until today morning. After a gap of three-four hours, heavy gunfight resumed and gunfight continues until the filling of this report.

As of now, there is no report of human casualty from both sides.

The tense situation in the State is far from normal, particularly in Hill areas. It was alleged that the Meitei armed groups continued their attacks on the Kuki-Zo tribal areas, thereby arsoning of houses and killings reported every now and then.

Meanwhile, the Kuki Students' Organization - General Headquarters, has rejected the notification issued by the Directorate of Health Services, Government of Manipur, dated 17th July, 2023 regarding application for admission to nursing and other courses in Government Institutions including private Nursing Colleges.

Expressing its dissatisfaction over the notification, KSO-GHQ stated that the large scale violence in the State has caused massive dislocation of many students from Kuki community, and stood against the notification issued by the Directorate of Health Services, Manipur.

The courses for application included B.Sc. in Nursing, B.Sc. in Radio Image Technology, B.Sc. in Optometry & Ophthalmic Techniques, B.Sc. in Medical Lab Technology, Bachelor of Pharmacy, M.Sc. in Nursing, Diploma in Pharmacy, ANM and GNM.

Stating that the notification reflects the biasness of the State government, the Kuki Students Organization appealed to the general public of Kuki community to desist from applying the said educational courses.