By Matters India Reporter
Imphal, June 6, 2022: All Catholic educational institutions in Manipur will close June 7 to protest an explosion on the premises of a Church school in Imphal, capital of the northeastern Indian state.
The decision was taken during an emergency meeting with the Catholic Educational Society Manipur (CESM) executives and Archbishop House Curia officials following the incident in one of the leading Christian missionary schools, said Rev Father Stephen Touthang, Director of CSEM.
A powerful bomb exploded June 5 inside Little Flower School.
According to Father Touthang, around 3:10 am on June 5 some unidentified miscreants exploded the bomb, damaging some portions of the school building, shattering window panes.
No one has claimed responsibility for the blast so far, the priest told reporters.
A sit-in-protest was held June 6 by the staff and students in front of the Little Flower School as a mark of protest. The protesters demanded the state government to ensure safety for the students and make the school a “violence-free zone.”
The protesters held placards with slogans that read among others, ‘We condemn the bomb attack on our school,’ ‘Allow us to grow without fear,’ ‘Ensure our safety,’ ‘Spare us, we just survived the pandemic.’
School headmistress Sister Kaini Martha said it was unfortunate that “such incident is happening in a school which is working for the growth and all-round development of students.”
In a message to teachers, parents and students, Sister Martha, a member of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, said students of grades seven to ten and their teachers will have a rally from 9 am to 11 am. She invited parents, past students, school van drivers and wellwishers to join the rally in solidarity.
“Your cooperation is solicited for the cause to make our educational institutions a free and safe zone,” the nun wrote.
Meanwhile the All Manipur Catholic Union also condemned the incident.
The union stated that such act of violence not only threatens the school fraternity, but harms the educational environment. “Education institutions need a conducive environment for growth and development,” it asserted.
If education institutions are not safe, the very foundation of society is under threat, it warned.
When BJP is ruling the state, what else can you expect from the party leaders? The BJP leaders are in no way less than the terrorists. See, what happened to the two BJP spokespersons who made abusive statements against Prophet Mohammed. All countries in Arab and even western countries and USA have strongly condemned these two persons. Many Arabian countries have stopped selling Indian products. The Indian laborers may be chased out slowly.
For the name’s sake the BJP released statements like “In India all religions are respected”. If this is true, then, why the party continues to target Muslims and Christians in India? The BJP is strong in its agenda of “Hindi, Hindutva and Hindustan”. The party will stoop to any level to achieve this agenda.