Miscreants burn Manipur’s second oldest Catholic school

St. Joseph Higher Secondary School at Sugnu in Chandel district of the northeastern Indian state lost all its files and records of the past 55 years after the miscreants set it on fire around 9 pm on April 25.

Father Jacob Chapao, the director of the Manipur Catholic Youth Organisation, has issued a condemnation letter, slamming the miscreants for the barbaric act.

“Such barbaric act of vandalism on an educational institution is against the cause of humanity,” the priest said.

The school, which has some 1400 students in the current academic year, took disciplinary action on six students a week ago but were allowed to attend the class as usual.

One of them took to social media to malign the school and insult the teacher who was in the class. The school then suspended the six for a month on April 22. One of the girls, whose father is alleged to be a militant leader operating in Sugnu area, mobilized the Kuki Student Union (KSO), a student outfit based in Chandel to pressure the school to revoke the ban.

The school refused to give in and this led to burning down the school, Father Chapo said, narrating the incident.

The Catholic school has been catering to the educational needs of the tribal people, especially Kukis and Anals, two ethnic groups in the state. The fire has gutted the school’s office building.