By Felix Anthony –
Chandel: A group miscreants burned down a reputed and the second oldest Catholic School in Manipur over disciplinary action on some students on 25 April 2019.
St. Joseph Higher Secondary School at Sugnu in Chandel district of Manipur lost all its files and records of the last 55 years over the fire by the miscreants at 9pm on the night of 25 April.
Father Jacob Chapao, the Director of the Manipur Catholic Youth Organisation, has issued a condemnation letter, slamming the miscreants for the barbaric act.
Condemning the incident, Fr. Chapao said, “Such barbaric act vandalism of an educational institution is against the cause of humanity”.
The school, which has some 1,400 students in the current academic year, took some disciplinary action on six students on Friday last week and they were allowed to attend the class as usual. One of them took to social media to malign the reputation of the school and insult the teacher who was at the class. The school then suspended the six for a month on Monday this week.
One of the girls, whose father is alleged to be a militant leader operating in Sugnu area of the district, mobilised the Kuki Student Union (KSO), a local student union based in Chandel to put pressure on the school to revoke the ban. The school refused to give in and this led to burning down the half-a-century old school, Fr. Chapo said, narrating the incident.
The second oldest Catholic school in Manipur, which has been catering to the educational needs of the tribal people, especially the Kukis and the Anals, has lost its office building with all the files and records in the fire.