IMPHAL, Sept 10: The Committee on the Protection of Natural Resources in Manipur, CPNRM urged the state government to respect the wishes and sentiments of indigenous peoples of Manipur against oil exploration and also to respect their rights over their land, natural resources and allow them to determine their own future.
In a statement issued to the press, CPNRM expressed serious concern with the reported move of the state government at the behest of Jubilant Energy to organise another public hearing at Nungba for oil exploration in Manipur despite the clear verdicts of the people earlier in all three public hearings organised by Manipur pollution control board during 30 July and 17 August 2012 at Jiribam, Parbung and Nungba.
There should be no further flawed public hearings for oil exploration in Manipur and people’s clear verdict against oil exploration should be fully respected and honoured, the statement said and added, no forces, no matter how powerful can ever silence the voices of the people.
The report and proposed move to organise public hearings with full security deployment is unreasonable as peoples voices can never be suppressed by any force including the military, it said and further added, security forces are not meant to collude with private companies in burying the rights, aspirations and future of people but rather to protect the people’s rights and interests.
The statement said, in democracy, governments are expected to uphold people’s voices and there can be no true development by relying on the military, militarization and suppression of people’s rights and added, let the Jubilant Energy and the government be aware that the land and resources in Manipur are not for sale and not for profits and plunder and that the people of Manipur must be allowed to decide and determine their future.