BENGALURU: A native of Manipur, studying in Mysuru has written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and solve the economic blockade imposed in Manipur. The blockade that has been in place for the past two months has led to violence and has cut off the State from other parts of the country.
Ronald Laishram, a sixth semester BE student of Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, has written the letter.
In his letter, Ronald said that people were being killed like 'mosquitoes'.
"United Naga Council (UNC) has 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 the Imphal are being checked by the 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 wrote.
“And in the recent ambush, NSCN-IM killed four Manipur polices, injured eleven. Still, you don't say anything about it, “ he said, questioning the Prime Minister's silence.
“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 read.
Speaking to Express he said, “I have requested Modi to give me an appointment to meet him as I do have ideas to solve the issue.”
A top student of the college:
In 2015, Ronald Laishram was honoured by the 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 his college. Ronald and his group had tracked objects by looking at the images of the sky provided by a telescope based in the US, as part of a competition called ‘Astrometrica’ to discover new asteroids.