MSF, SFI protest after teachers stop pro-Palestine mime show in Kerala school
Kasaragod (Kerala) (PTI): The student organisations MSF and SFI staged protests at a school here on Saturday after teachers allegedly stopped a mime show in support of Palestine.
General Education Minister V Sivankutty said that he has ordered a higher official to to investigate and report about the development.
According to police, the mime show was stopped during the school arts festival at Kumbala Government Higher Secondary School on Friday. Two teachers intervened and asked them to stop the performance before pulling down the stage curtains, they said. The move drew sharp criticism, prompting the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) to convene a meeting on Saturday.
However, activists of Muslim Students Federation (MSF), the student wing of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), barged into the meeting demanding action against the teachers.
The protestors alleged that teachers locked students in a room to stop the event. Pro CPI(M) Student Federation of India (SFI) cadres also staged a protest at the school.
Police later removed the protesters from the premises, and personnel have been deployed on the campus to prevent any untoward incident. Officials said the PTA was looking to resume the arts festival and resolve the issues.
Meanwhile, General Education Minister V Sivankutty said that he has directed the Director of General Education to investigate and submit a report into the incident immediately.
“It is understood that the action was taken because the mime touched upon the issue of Palestine. Kerala has always stood against the atrocities being carried out by Israel and stands in solidarity with the children being targeted in Palestine,” he said.
He added that efforts would be made to allow students at Kumbala School to perform the same mime on stage in the future.
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Protesters clash with police during torch rally in Manipur
Imphal (PTI): People protesting the death of two children in a recent bomb blast in Manipur clashed with security forces during a torch rally in the state capital Imphal, police said.
Two children died in a bomb blast at Tronglaobi in Bishnupur on April 7. The Imphal Valley districts have been witnessing daily protests over the incident.
A seven-km-long torch rally was brought out from Mayai Lambi to Keishamthong in Imphal West district on Monday night, but the participants turned violent and clashed with the security forces, a police officer said.
Security forces fired several rounds of tear gas shells in Keishamthong area after hundreds of protesters defying curfew demanded they be allowed to proceed for another 200 metres towards Keisampat area, which is close to the Lok Bhavan and the BJP state office, he said.
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Orders prohibiting the movement of any individuals outside their respective homes are in force in all the five valley districts from 5 pm to 5 am.
"Protesters pelted the security forces with stones and iron pellets from catapults, endangering the lives of the heavily outnumbered security forces," the officer said.
Manipur Police have, meanwhile, arrested 19 people for violating curfew and committing offences, including blocking roads and damaging public property, in the Greater Imphal area. They were nabbed from different parts of Imphal West district on Sunday, a police statement said.
In the Ukhrul district headquarters, a candlelight vigil was held on Monday night to honour the two Tangkhul Naga civilians who were killed in an ambush in TM Kasom area in the district on April 18.
Various civil society organisations from both the valley and hill areas strongly condemned the brutal killings, alleging that the victims were shot by Kuki militants using sniper rifles.
