Totally illegal: Manipur govt on student body’s move to declare Fridays as public holidays

IMPHAL, 28 Oct: The Manipur government has termed “totally illegal” a notice issued by Churachandpur-based Joint Student’s Body, calling for declaration of every Friday as a holiday for all government offices and educational institutions in the southern district.

A statement issued by Chief Secretary Vineet Joshi on 27 October said that “deliberate attempt of renaming institutions and places had been made along with public declaration for adoption of resolution for observing every Friday as a holiday by institutions of government of Manipur, including the offices of DCs, SPs, ZEOs, ADCs, government schools and colleges in the town of Churachandpur, which is totally illegal.”

It said that the state government has taken up necessary preventive and precautionary measures along with robust mechanism to avoid any untoward incident.

The statement said that “any such act of spreading a message and public notice poses a threat to the communal harmony, peaceful coexistence, internal and national security, and is viewed seriously by the state government.”

It appealed to the public to not rely on “such post, which has been illegally generated,” and to not resort to any kind of unwarranted act or violence.

The student body in a statement on 26 October had said: “We are committed to the continuation and improvement of an education-friendly environment in our living space, even in these difficult times. In order to make the government hear…, the JSB had adopted a resolution on 18 August… for all institutions of government of Manipur starting from DC/SP… to observe Friday as a holiday.” (PTI)