Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, SEPT 24: The All Nyishi Students’ Union (ANSU) on Thursday announced a 48-hour bandh across the seven Nyishi-inhabited districts from September 28 if the state government fails to address its demands related to educational infrastructure and facilities.
ANSU president Ashok Doka made the announcement while concluding the union’s 12-hour bandh in the Itanagar Capital Region (ICR) here on Thursday, organised to press for improvement of educational infrastructure across the Nyishi belt.
Doka said the union would intensify its agitation if the government failed to address the issues by September 28, warning of a third phase of agitation involving “political unrest”.
He also said the agitation was aimed at drawing the government’s attention to long-pending gaps in educational infrastructure, teacher deployment and higher education facilities across the Nyishi belt.
The union is demanding renovation, restoration and structural improvement of 56 identified government schools across seven Nyishi districts.
Among its other demands are establishment of a dedicated Special Needs School in Pakke-Kessang, early notification and formal advertisement for commencement of the proposed Toru Engineering College, and expediting the process for the proposed late Neelam Taram Government College at Yachuli.
ANSU has also demanded immediate transfer and posting of teachers currently attached to non-teaching administrative offices back to regular schools, particularly in remote and Nyishi-inhabited areas.
The 12-hour bandh was observed in the ICR on Thursday despite the district administration declaring it unlawful. Normal activities were affected in several areas, with shops remaining closed and vehicular movement restricted following the erection of barricades by protesters.
Vehicles and tyres were set ablaze at some locations during the protest. A video circulating on social media purportedly showed an assault during the bandh. However, no major violent incident was reported by the end of the shutdown, and no arrests or detentions had been made in connection with the reported incidents till then.
