Event 1:
6th September 2009.
Volleyball match.
Mr. Neeraj Singh of Singtam was physically ragged by 12 Bihari non-local students.
Event 2:
7th September 2009.
Mr. Diwas Poudyal was humiliated by the same people and was abused when he intended to compromise. In self-defense, he retaliated.
Event 3:
7th September 2009.
After class hours when Mr. Diwas Poudyal was going home, a group of 20-25 bihari non-local students encircled him and started using abusive words and started man handling him in the presence of the college security guards and the public. Again he retaliated in self-defense as any normal human being would do.
Event 4:
7th September 2009.
After what happened, few of Mr.Diwas Poudyals’ friends reacted and got involved in man-handling actions against the same 20-25 bihari non-locals.
Event 5:
7th September 2009.
After the event, the police was summoned and immediately the boys involved in the actions were taken into custody.
Event 6:
7th September 2009.
Both the sides came to compromise at the scene but even after that the policemen physically assaulted the local students.
Event 7:
7th September 2009.
Without knowing who was right or wrong, the bihari non-locals suddenly formed a mob before C-Quadrangle and started shouting and using abusive words to every local student passing by.
Event 8:
7th September 2009.
For the sake of security, the local students also gathered in front of E-Quadrangle and sat peacefully, so that no one gets injured inside the hostel.
Event 9:
7th September 2009.
After that, all the police personnel and college authorities present at the scene started pushing the local students back with a promise that the other group will also be dispersed. While the local students started retreating, the bihari non-locals stayed rooted. Therefore the local students stopped and stood their ground again. For this very reason, the Sikkim Armed Police (S.A.P.) were called and they randomly lathi charged the students on their way in and threatened only the local students continuously.
(The local students were not the ones to form the mob in the first place, but even then the officials turned a blind eye and blamed the local students for the situation. Emotionally hurt, the only thing the local students could do was to stand united and hope for the situation to ease.)
Event 10:
Around 1 AM.
8th September 2009.
Every high ranking personnel started addressing the local group. As always, the V.C. Mr. S.S. Pabla started threatening the local students, saying if they do not move back, the consequences will be severe. Even the S.P. Mr. MS Tuli addressed the local group, starting with the words “Oye! Shut up!”By this time it was clear that no one would help the local group and listen to their grievances while the other group continued to yell and shout rebelliously.
Event 11:
8th September 2009.
Several hours past, the representatives from both sides along with the higher authorities went for a conference.
DEMANDS PLACED BY BIHARI NON-LOCAL STUDENTS.
· Proper treatment of the students who were beaten up.
DEMANDS PLACED BY LOCAL STUDENTS.
· Strict action be taken against those 20-25 students who encircled Mr. Diwas Poudyal.
· Future security of our students (academically) because most of the time local students get victimized.
Event 12:
8th September 2009.
After the meeting, the respective representatives from each side along with the officials addressed their groups to end the misunderstanding, but the bihari non-local group kept on shouting and their demands kept on increasing. Some of their demands are:
· Expulsion of all the local teachers.
· Expulsion of all the local students.
While doing so, they randomly and openly called out names of local teachers and started abusing them. Mr. Kamal Thakur (Hostel Superintendent) was primarily targeted by the bihari non-locals with the demand to fire him from his job.
Event 13:
8th September 2009.
After hours of talks, the V.C. and the S.P. along with other staff members went to the local group with the promise that all the demands will be looked upon with clear justification and advised them to disperse peacefully. The group did as told with another promise that the other group would also disperse. Unsurprisingly enough, the bihari non-locals started shouting slogans like “Sikkim Hai Hai!” along with “You all are Chinese” and “Go back to China”. These words hurt the sentiments of the local people, puncturing their pride as Indians.
Event 14:
8th September 2009.
Breakfast time.
3 local students went to have breakfast around 7.30 AM. in the mess, which was packed with non-local students, majority being the bihari students. They filled their plates and moved towards the place they regularly sit. The non-local students started jeering at them and started banging their tables. 2 of the local students started to retaliate but the third student stopped them and they returned to their rooms.
9 AM.
After the breakfast incident, the crowd of bihari non-local students who were already agitated by some miscreants who wanted to create chaos started provoking their fellow mates.
9.30 AM.
After seeing them provoking the local students and hurling abuses at them, the local students gathered together to pacify the situation. Seeing this new turn of events, the bihari non-locals further got infuriated and misunderstood the local students intensions.
10 AM.
Teachers and police forces tried to pacify the students but to no avail. The stand-off went on till 11.30 AM.
11 AM.
A representative of the Bihari Jagaran Manch (Rangpo) was seen in midst of all the commotion, adding communal colors to the entire situation. No such representative was called forth from the local side, as they did not intend to make this internal affair a nationwide communal clash.
11.30 AM
The bihari non-local group were sent back to their hostels and the local students were involved in talks with the college authority. Suddenly, the bihari non-local group inside the hostel got more agitated and started to smash the glasses and pulling out the rods from different places and went on a rampage. They vandalized everything from the canteen to the coffee shop inside the hostel. The recreation room was completely destroyed with the TV to the pool table, all college property. Nothing was spared. They appeared to be more of a mob of angry hooligans rather than students of a reputed engineering college.
In the midst of all the commotion, the police force stood there as mute spectators. When approached they said, “We do not have orders for a Lathi charge.” Instead the local students were contained inside the college ground with the police standing guard.
After nothing else was left to vandalize, the bihari non-local ‘mob’ turned their attention to the local students and the first batch of stone pelting took place. Seeing this the local group retaliated in the same way, with the so called “experts” resorting to lathi charge on both sides. During this event, both the sides suffered casualties.
After this incident, more police forces were deployed. The college authority decided on closing the institute and sending all the students to their parents. In this context, the local students asked the authority to first punish the 20-25 students guilty or give a written assurance that the action will the taken. Seeing that the college authority was unwilling to meet this simple demand, the local students created a road block at the college security gate. Again the authorities came there and tried to remove the barricade forcefully, but the students stayed rooted insisting their demand be fulfilled.
Then the authorities asked the local group to clear the road so that the vehicle of an Army colonel could pass through. The students agreed to this and cleared the road. When the vehicle was getting through, the local students saw the accused students from the other group trying to make an escapade in the vehicle. As the local students stopped the vehicle, S.P. (East) Mr. MS Tuli gave the order to lathi charge the students. Both the students and innocent bystanders were mercilessly assaulted by the policemen. Even some parents who had arrived at the scene were not spared. One local student was beaten mercilessly when trying to stop a policeman from beating a parent, which resulted in him being severely injured and was also seen coughing blood, and also no medical attention was provided by the authorities present, while medical facilities were provided to the other more violent mob.
Around 4.30 PM. Reacting to the injustice melted out by the college authorities and the police, the local students sat down demanding justice. The local students never resorted to violence, yet were severely assaulted on. This stand-off lasted till around 6PM. Then around 20 representatives from the local students’ side went in for a conference with the higher authorities. There the demands and grievances were put forward. The demand was that strict actions should be taken against the guilty 20-25, to which the authorities asked for 10 days for deeper investigation on both sides. After the conference, the representatives came out and on hearing the decision, the local students headed for their respective homes, preferring to stay out of the hostel. Grabbing a few necessities from their hostel rooms, the local students headed out – with their faith in the police and college authorities crushed under the boots of injustice and racism
