IMPHAL, August 29: The Thadou Students`™ Association (TSA), General Headquarters (TSA-GHQ) has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu for excluding the tribal land namely, Haolenphai Village, Moreh from the nominated smart cities as declared yesterday at National Media Centre, New Delhi.
In a statement, the TSA said the Government of Manipur proposed to set up a new township in the border town of Moreh (Indo-Myanmar border) since 2012 and tried to grab tribal land of about 3000 acres of land in the name of smart city at Haolenphai village.
TSA protested against the State government`™s proposal to acquire tribal land at the village and its vicinity and in this regard memorandums were submitted to the government and several Union ministers, particularly to the Prime Minister on November 21, 2014, it reiterated.
As part of the protest, the association also imposed a 48 hours total bandh on National Highways from November 19 to 20, 2014. A mass peaceful protest was also staged at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on November 22, 2014.
Expressing gratitude to Save Tribal Land (Haolenphai) Facebook Group and all the organizations and individuals who have supported the noble cause morally, financially, physically through prayer or any form of support, the TSA in the statement warned of launching different forms of democratic resistance movement if the government still insists to acquire tribal land against the wishes and interests of the tribal people.