New Delhi: Nineteen-year-old Florence Baite, a first-year Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) student at Manipur’s Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), was sitting at the state’s Churachandpur Medical College (CMC) Tuesday, desperately waiting for her final examinations for that year to begin.
A member of Manipur’s minority Kuki tribe, displaced in the ethnic clashes that broke out in the state in May this year, she had to discontinue classes at RIMS (in Imphal) when the violence started and return home to Churachandpur. In July, she started attending informal classes at CMC, being held for displaced Kuki students.
On Tuesday, she waited for 20 minutes in the examination hall, but the question paper never came. Finally, Baite left the campus dejected.
The cancellation of exam at CMC Tuesday was not the first hurdle that the 23-year-old has had to face in her attempts to resume her studies, following the past few months of violence in the state.
A week ago, RIMS allegedly refused her the admit card which would have allowed her to appear for the exam on the ground that she did not have the required 75 percent attendance to sit for the test.
Baite was not the only one to face this predicament. Twenty-seven of over 30 displaced MBBS and BDS Kuki students attending classes at CMC were allegedly informed over email that they were being debarred from appearing for the test by their parent college.
According to the students, after receiving the emails, they contacted the deputy commissioner, Churachandpur, Dharun Kumar, for help and were assured that they could sit for the exam. However, when the students reached CMC for the first exam, they were told the question papers — to be sent by Manipur University — had not reached the DC’s office (from where they are sent to the college) and so the exam could not be held.
On Tuesday, the students were joined by several other medical students from across the state for a protest against the Manipur University’s rule of compulsory 75 percent attendance, which resulted in the displaced Kuki students being barred from appearing for their first year MBBS and BDS examinations.
Holding placards that read ‘Migration in the only solution’ the students marched from Tuibong Bazar to the DC’s office in Churachandpur, demanding that they be allowed to migrate to colleges in other states so that they could continue their education. Supported by the North East Student Organisation (NESO), the protestors also included final-year MBBS students from the Kuki community.
In a memorandum submitted to Governor Anusuiya Uikey, a copy of which is with ThePrint, the students have also appealed to the governor of Manipur and the chief rector of Manipur University, for “alternative arrangements and possible modalities for conducting examination of the displaced students of the state”.
“The only thing that kept us going (during the conflict) was that we could at least sit for our exams, which was our only aim. Now, we are being refused even that. Without any arrangement, how are we expected to fulfill that criteria? Why do we have to protest, while our friends are giving their exams, continuing their studies and getting their degrees? Is the life of a minority nothing for them? Is it that insignificant?”, Baite told ThePrint.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a second BDS student who had to leave classes at RMC owing to the violence, added: “We did not leave Imphal of our own will. As students, it was not our choice. We had to fight to survive. Till today, we have no way to go back. We had repeatedly asked for alternative arrangements but nothing was provided to us. As students, we are supposed to be able to sit in classes, study. Without a choice, our education is being stopped. What about our future?”
The situation appears to be vastly different at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) in Imphal, where Meitei students, speaking on condition of anonymity, told ThePrint that they appeared for the Manipur University-conducted MBBS and BDS examinations Tuesday.
ThePrint reached JNIMS director Deben Singh Laishram, the institute’s academic dean Tokpam Rajen Singh over phone, but received no response till the time of publication of this report.
Meanwhile, talking about the plight of the students at CMC, Churachandpur DC Dharun Kumar said all necessary help had been extended to the students on their part, the issue now needed to be resolved by the Manipur University or the respective colleges.
“We have received a memorandum to help for the same which we will be forwarding to Commissioner Health, Govt of Manipur,” said Kumar.
ThePrint also reached joint secretary of Ministry of Health Suraj Yumnam on call and message, but he declined comment claiming he was not the concerned authority for this.
ThePrint also reached Imphal Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr T. Vanalkungi on call, but she denied knowledge about the protest or of the students being denied admit cards. The examination controller of Manipur University Ng. Nimai Singh and the sub-dean of RIMS Th. Megha refused to comment on the matter, when contacted over phone.
CMC sub-dean Seikholet (identified by a single name only), added that this is something that the parent colleges need to look into since the students are not affiliated or registered in CMC.
‘How could they attend classes when they had to flee for life’
Ethnic clashes between Manipur’s tribal Kuki and non-tribal Meitei communities erupted on 3 May, following a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ taken out to oppose the demand for inclusion of Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category and for what was described as an effort to secure the rights and constitutional safeguards of the ethnic Kuki and their sub-tribes like Zo, Mizos and Chins.
The state is divided into hill and valley districts, with the former dominated by Kuki and other tribes, while the valley is dominated by the non-tribal Meiteis. While the hills constitute 90 percent of Manipur’s area, most public facilities are concentrated in the valley. Imphal is in the valley.
Of Manipur’s four medical colleges — the government-run RIMS, CMC and JNIMS and the private Shija Hospitals and Research Institute — RIMS, JNIMS and Shija are in Meitei-dominated Imphal, while only CMC is in the Kuki areas.
As a result, Kuki medical students appear to be bearing the brunt of the disruption caused by the violence, faculty members, and local authorities had earlier told ThePrint. ThePrint had earlier reported how for many of these students, attending classes has been nearly impossible following the 3 May outbreak of violence.
Meitei students ThePrint had earlier spoken to had said they were attending classes normally after the first spate of violence ebbed.
Medical colleges in Manipur resumed classes following a National Medical Commission circular on 19 June. The circular had allowed first-year MBBS students from CMC, displaced in the ethnic classes, to attend classes either at that institute or at JNIMS in Imphal. Those to take up the offer were mostly former Meitei students of CMC, sources in Manipur told ThePrint.
Meanwhile, displaced Kuki professors from RIMS and JNIMS offered to take voluntary classes at CMC, and Kuki students of medical colleges in Imphal, forced to flee to Churachandpur, started attending informal classes at CMC, students and professors ThePrint spoke to told ThePrint.
Both Kuki and Meitei students attending classes at JNIMS and CMC for the past few months said there are no Kuki students at JNIMS currently and no Meitei students at CMC.
According to data shared by students, there are about 128 Kuki-Zo-Mizo medical students registered across the state’s four colleges. Of these, a little over 30 first year medical students have been continuing classes at CMC. This includes six MBBS students enrolled at CMC, 27 MBBS students from the other three colleges, who had returned to Churachandpur following the outbreak of violence and two BDS students — one from JNIMS and another from RIMS — attending classes at CMC after being forced to leave Imphal.
“Right before the exams, the deans of the four colleges had held an internal meeting, which was chaired by the director of RIMS, in which it was discussed that since many of the students had previously missed the classes, their internal assessments cannot be marked. However, NMC had issued a circular [in June] allowing the displaced students to sit for exams after internal assessment. The deans then wrote a letter asking the NMC how it could allow for internal assessment since the students do not meet the attendance requirements. Citing the NMC’s delay in response, the dean then upheld a resolution that the students could not be allowed to sit for their exams,” said Hegin Tungdim, a Kuki professor who previously taught at JNIMS and is now teaching at CMC.
According to the professor, Kuki professors from RIMS and JNIMS have been conducting classes voluntarily at CMC post the tensions, but most have not been paid.
Tungdim added that deans could give grace marks to students, especially the displaced students, for internal assessment, yet they refused to do so.
According to CMC sub-dean Seikholet, attendance of displaced students coming to classes at the college had been recorded and that internal assessment was also done to prepare them for the finals, but the students still couldn’t appear for the exams.
The students at CMC told ThePrint that they had duly filled their exam forms and submitted their exam fees, after showing documents of attendance and internal assessment to the required authorities at Manipur University.
According to the students, exams are generally conducted at the parent colleges, but the Kuki students who have been attending classes at CMC for the past few months, requested to be allowed to sit for their tests at the Churachandpur institute.
In a circular issued on 20 November, the National Medical Commission (NMC) had allowed the displaced Kuki students to sit for their exams at CMC, subject to permission from the parent college.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
Also read: Banned by MHA for 5 years: A look at active Meitei insurgent groups in Manipur & their demands