IMPHAL, April 21: The Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System has demanded it is time for the President to give his assent to ‘The Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015’.
Continuing its series of district level leaders’ meet, the JCILPS today conducted a similar meet at the Khurai Sangeet Kala Sangam hall in Imphal East.
The meeting took several resolutions which include that the State should pass the Manipur Un-Organised Workers (Control of Infiltration) Bill 2016 in the coming Legislative Assembly session and that names of non-locals and foreigners should be struck off from the voters’ list and they should not be allowed to contest elections.
Other resolutions taken during the meeting include bringing out a white paper within a month on the influx of migrants into the State and to constitute the Manipur Land Reform Commission.
JCILPS convenor Khomdram Ratan said that the bills passed by the State Assembly last year should not be used to fool the people.
Politicians cutting across parties should put pressure on the Centre to give assent to the bills to safeguard the indigenous people of the State, he demanded.
The State government doesn’t seem to have taken any initiative to turn the bills into Acts which is an indication of negligence on the part of the government, he asserted.
Although the State government has several powers to control the influx of non-locals into the State, it continues to remain silent, he added.
If the State government wants to safeguard the indigenous people of Manipur then they should fulfill its responsibilities, otherwise the indigenous people will face the same fate as Tripuris who were outnumbered by the Bengalis in Tripura, he said.
Once the non-locals outnumber the indigenous people, they will overthrow the government formed by the indigenous people to form their own, he added.
The merger with India was not to bring a catastrophe upon the indigenous people, Ratan said.
The Centre has implemented policies in many States to safeguard the indigenous people there, however, unfortunately, the Centre has decided to ignore the demand for a similar Act in Manipur, and the bills continue to lay on the table of the President, he added.
The JCILPS will submit a memorandum to the President during his visit in the State to attend the April 23 Khongjom Day celebration, he said.
Today’s programme was also attended by co-convenors BK Moirangcha, Arjun Telheiba, Ksh Somorendro and Kherudin among others.