Student group rejects agreement with Govt, will continue protest till SP and PI are suspended

GANGTOK, 17 July: A section of the college students has thumbed down the agreement drawn up with the State Government and rejected it, announcing that as far as they are concerned, their protest continues till their main demands are met. They are demanding that the SP [East] and the OC Sadar Thana be placed under suspension until the completion of the enquiry on the incidents of 14 and 15 July. They are also demanding that no police or legal action be initiated against any student for incidents which occurred between 14 to 16 July.
Addressing a press conference today, a section of students who had also attended yesterday’s negotiations with the State Government, they expressed that around 30 students attended the meeting but after long discussion no concrete decision emerged out. They now claim that they are “totally dissatisfied” with the agreement and claim that it was signed by just two students among whom one is an ex-student.
A student, Prakash Parajuli, stated that since there was no Students’ Representative Council, at present, they were representing students. He mentioned that after the whole day’s discussion, no conclusion came out and that they were not satisfied with the meeting.
Bimal Neopaney claims that the agreement was signed by just two students from among the 30 who attended the meeting.
Tshering Denka Bhutia, in turn, alleged that students did not a get chance to place their views at the meeting.
Poonam Chettri stated that when their demand that the SP [East] and the OC Sadar Thana be suspended from service was turned down, the students started to leave the conference hall but were stopped.
They are also now demanding that no police case or legal action be taken against any student for incident that took place between 14 and 16 July as they never wanted such a situation to transpire. About the one-man committee, like was demanded by SKM yesterday, they also today suggested that the committee have more members including a representative from the civil society, a retired government servant, a parents’ representative and be headed by a retired judge.
They also clarified that while they did not belong to any political party, all political parties, NGOs and people should support them.
Immediately, after this press conference, Neelam Gurung, one of the signatories of the agreement, along with Gyurmie Rinchen, who also attended the meeting, addressed the press. She clarified that she was an ex-student and with the permission of the Principal and lecturers of the college, was wearing the college uniform to support the students. She also stated that she was in unanimous support of the demands made by the students.