Deal with insurgents firmly, PC tells Manipur CM

Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh today expressed hope that student organisations in his state would soon end their boycott of classes, which has been continuing for the last three months.

Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh on Friday expressed hope that student organisations in his state would soon end their boycott of classes, which has been continuing for the last three months.

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"I hope that everything will be ok very soon," Singh told reporters in New Delhi when asked what steps his government was taking to end the stalemate.

At least four lakh students in Manipur may lose out an academic year due to the class boycott call of various student groups since September to protest the killing of a youth in an alleged encounter with police in July.

Singh, who met Home Minister P Chidambaram, said he has requested the Home Minister to provide additional paramilitary force to deal with the insurgency situation in the state.

Chidambaram is understood to have told the Chief Minister to do the needful urgently so that the students resume their classes at the earliest, sources said.

The Home Minister is also believed to have told Singh to crack down on the insurgents and firmly deal with them to stop their extortion and protect national highways where extremists often create disturbance.

Three major students' organisations have been boycotting classes in all educational institutions in the state since September 9 in support of demands by a major social organisation -- Apunba Lup.

The Apunba Lup, which has been agitating against the killing Chungkham Sanjit by police commandos on July 23 in an alleged encounter, demands resignation of Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh on moral grounds.