BENGALURU: A student from Manipur studying in Mysuru has written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and solve the almost two-month-long economic blockade imposed in Manipur which has led to violence.
Ronald Laishram, a third-year engineering student of Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering has written stating, “People are killed like mosquitoes every now and then. And it is a clueless hunt for the law and order keepers to book and punish the criminals.
United Naga Council (UNC) had imposed the indefinite economic blockade on the state’s lifelines -- National Highway 2 (Imphal-Dimapur highway) and National Highway 37 (Imphal-Silchar highway) starting from November 1 midnight and still going on, disrupting the supply of commodities to Manipur.
“Vehicles coming toward Imphal are being checked by supporters of UNC to stop the transportation of essential commodities to the hills. The economic blockade has not only caused a shortage but also children are being deprived of education as they can’t go to schools due to non-availability of fuel. It also added fuel to the fire when the demonetisation process is going on where the people don’t have adequate money in their hands.”
He continues, “And in the recent ambush, NSCN-IM killed four Manipur policemen, injured eleven. Still, you don’t say anything about it.”
“The present policy of the Government of India appeasing Naga underground (NSCN-IM), sacrificing the vital interest of Manipur, added fuel to the prevailing ethnic tension in Manipur. This is definitely not a wise policy of the Government of India,” his letter reads.
Ronald also told Express, “I have requested an appointment with the PM as I do have ideas to solve the issue.”
He was feted by Kalam
In 2015, Ronald Laishram was honoured by former President A P J Abdul Kalam for discovering the Main Belt Asteroid “Maur 397” as part of the All-India Asteroid Search Campaign (AIASC) held in December 2014 in Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysuru.
Ronald and his group had tracked objects by looking at images of the sky provided by a telescope based in the USA, as part of a competition called ‘Astrometrica’ to find objects which were suspected to be asteroids.