Newmai News Network
IMPHAL, APRIL 19
With the assembly polls approaching fast, a fresh agitation by Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) on the demand of ILP to protect the indigenous communities in Manipur could put the ruling Congress government on the back foot.
Sources said JCILPS agitation in this crucial hour could be another political headache for Ibobi government which faced an unsavory situation last year due to a months-long public agitation spearheaded by the JCILPS over the demand of protecting the indigenous people of Manipur against influx of migrants.
The committee is all set to launch another sustained stir eventually. The committee has been organizing a series of public meetings to gather support and bring them into the limelight and that it is emphatic that a fresh stir should be launched to put pressure on the government to fulfill the demand.
Aimed at regulating migrants, the Manipur Assembly passed three Bills last August under public pressure but has done nothing conveniently to reach the final stages in converting these Bills into an Act till date.
On the other hand, the tribal people in Manipur want these Bills to be cancelled saying these have impinged upon their interests. The protests that followed the passing of the Bills left nine tribal protesters killed and many injured during clashes with security forces in Churachandpur district.
The bodies of the nine ‘tribal martyrs’ are still kept unclaimed in the mortuary of Churachandpur District Hospital since then. The Churachandpur JAC has vowed not to bury the bodies until the government withdraws the controversial Bills which the tribal people dubbed as ‘anti-tribal Bills.’
The JCILPS is worried that the ensuing state assembly polls due next year could be a major hurdle to the movement and so it wants the people of Manipur to work in a limited time to achieve the goal.
Over 400 ‘illegal migrants’ were detected by the committee in the state recently raising concern over the elected representatives’ commitment which the committee said does not live up to the people’s expectations.
Committee convenor Khomdram Ratan said any Act or rule, be it Inner Line Permit System (ILPS), Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation or any other system applicable in Manipur should be implemented in the larger interest of the people.
Ratan also raised concern that illegal migrants from neighbouring Myanmar Bangladesh and other states have flooded Manipur on a trail with no end. The committee has also demanded the Manipur government to set up Manipur Land Reform Commission.
The stir being planned by the committee will include general strike, mass rally, market blockade, street corner meeting, poster campaign and non-cooperation movement.
