Not for the sake of politics

(Editorial, Oct 4, 2009)
Finally somebody has spoken on it. In an interview to this weekly, Congress candidate Mrs Pomaya Mithi assured for a college in Roing and made it her topmost priority. The demand for a college in Roing had always been a preference considering the enormity of high school graduates passing out each year from the twin districts. Also IGG College in Tezu considered to be in a region infested with opium addicts; many parents have started to express fear of such habits affecting their children.

The movement for a college started with initiative from All Idu Mishmi Students Union (AIMSU) along with college and university lecturers from Idu community. A suggestion was made informally to Rajya Sabha MP Mukut Mithi to which he appeared less enthusiastic although he offered the idea of a college that could be established by religious missionaries active in the district.

The proposal for a college in Roing was first manifested by MLA Roing Laeta Umbrey in his election manifesto of 2004. It was the period when youths were then challenging the authority of Mithi’s two decade rule and actively campaigning against him. However after Umbrey’s shocking defeat in the election, the idea of a college was discarded. The reckless and immature youths were then thought-out as one of the cause for his defeat. Thereafter, Umbrey after his victorious debut in 2006 election began a policy of undermining youths in his powerful group of advisors. Added to that, in his relentless confrontation with the student union in his two years of tenure, a college in Roing would then act as an adversary.

Now whatever the reasons for the issue of college to be ignored, the youths ultimately realized the battle had to be fought on their own. Considering this a ‘baithak’ of senior students and govt officials was arranged by AIMSU. From the gathering, the participants learnt the idea of how the powerful All Nyishi Students Union (ANSU) could establish three colleges in their region dominated by their tribesman. The only criteria for establishing a college is availability of land. Its irony that when our lands are given free of cost to power developers and our ancestral land being declared as Reserved Forest, we are unable to find a land even for a college.

Now a breakthrough seems to have been achieved with Mrs Mithi’s assurance. But what if she looses the election? Will the same saga of Umbrey’s ardous journey repeat again? So the time now is for such assurances to be made from both sides. Whoever wins the election, the noble cause for spreading knowledge should not be abandoned just because of politics.