Imphal, Sept 12: Another Central institution in Imphal East district was forced to close down on Tuesday as the campaign of shutting down institutes under the Central government entered its second day.
Joining the demand for withdrawal of Assam Rifles from Manipur, a group of protesters announced indefinite closure of all the institutions in the state on Monday.
While announcing the stir, residents of Iroisemba of Imphal West district on Monday locked down the Central Agricultural University (CAU) campus in Iroisemba with a padlock.
While locking down the CAU campus, the locals also shouted various slogans against the paramilitary force and the Central government.
Supporting the stir, residents of Singjamei area of Imphal East on Tuesday closed down the campus of the National Institute of Electronic and Information Technology (NIELIT) at Akampat in Imphal East.
A group of people, mostly women of the area who turned up at the NIELIT campus, locked down both the administrative and academic block of the institution around 9.30 am.
Before locking down with padlocks, the protesters tried to meet the director of the institution who was unavailable.
The protestors asked all the teaching and non-teaching staff of the institution to move out of the campus. They also asked the students to leave the campus while informing that the institution is closed indefinitely.
The protesters could be heard shouting various slogans like “Go back Assam Rifles”, “Long live Manipur”, etc.
A spokesperson of the local Meira Paibi (women torch bearers) group said that they joined the stir of closing down the Central institutions in support of the demand for withdrawal of Assam Rifles from the state. She said that unable to tolerate the atrocities carried out by the paramilitary force on the civilians, the people raised the voice against the Assam Rifles.
The stir will continue until the paramilitary force is withdrawn from the state, she said, expressing hope that other organizations will also extend their support to the stir.