Author:
Publication: The Hindu
Date: May 20, 2001
Militant outfits in Manipur have
served huge extortion notices to the educational institutions run by missionaries,
authorities said today.
Shock waves rippled through the
region this week when militants killed three missionaries following altercation
regarding extortion near Imphal.
Father Jonas Kerketta, Vice-provincial
of the Salesians of Don Bosco, Dimapur, under which all the institutions
are run in Manipur and Nagaland, told reporters today that each extortion
notice ranged between Rs. 25 lakhs and Rs. 5 lakhs.
The missionaries are presently running
31 high schools, five higher secondary schools, one technical school and
one college in Manipur and each of these had been served extortion notices.
At least 1,000 Christian missionary-run
schools across the northeast remained closed on Friday in protest against
the killings.
Father Kerkatta said the militants
entered the seminary premises, tried to separate the Naga students from
the non-Naga and demanded money from the three priests at gunpoint before
shooting them at close range.
Father Kerkatta accused the Revolutionary
People Front (RPF) of Manipur of serving the extortion notices which bore
the letterheads of the organisation.
He regretted that due to political
turmoil, the Manipur Government was not in a position to tackle the prevailing
unrest.
Mr. Allan Brooks, president, All-India
Catholic Union of Assam, said they were completely confused why the educational
institutes which had been rendering so much of philanthropic service for
the past one and a half centuries to the north-east, had been targetted.
Fr. George Plathottam, Director, Don Bosco Communications, said missionaries
are facing a similar plight in Tripura as well as in the Bodos dominated
areas in Assam.
He informed that for the past three
months all the educational institutions of Manipur have remained closed.
``They are now on extended summer vacations although the schools should
have been closed for 15 days only.''
Both Fr. Jonas and Fr. George asserted
that under no circumstance would they be paying the militants. ``How, why
and whom should we pay? There are 70 recognized militant groups.''
More than 35 per cent of the total
33 million population in north-east States are Christians, predominantly
belonging to Nagaland and Mizoram.
- UNI