Staff Reporter

ITANAGAR, 24 Sep: The 12-hour capital bandh enforced by the All Nyishi Students' Union (ANSU) on Thursday paralysed Itanagar and Naharlagun, affecting normal life.

All government offices, schools and other important establishments like banks, etc, remained shut throughout the day. Shops remained closed during the bandh hours. Vehicles were off the road, except those of the magistrate, police, ambulance and press vehicles.

A scooter and a car were reportedly burnt during the bandh hours. However, ANSU president Ashok Doka said that his volunteers did not resort to any act of violence or arson.

Addressing mediapersons at the end of the bandh, Doka warned the government that the union would impose a 48-hour bandh in the Itanagar Capital Region (ICR) if its demands are not met by 28 September.

"The ANSU will call a 48-hour bandh in the Itanagar Capital Region and other Nyishi-inhabited areas if its demands are not addressed by 28 September," announced Doka, warning of a third phase of agitation involving "political unrest."

The ANSU's demands include action on 56 identified schools in seven Nyishi-inhabited districts; early commencement of classes at the government engineering college in Toru in Papum Pare; and establishment of a school catering to children with special needs in Pakke-Kessang district.

The students' body said that the agitation is aimed at drawing the government's attention to long-pending gaps in educational infrastructure and facilities in the Nyishi belt.