Not exactly a test but the BJP led Government cannot afford to sleep over the matter. If not tackled early and rightly, then it has all the potential to snowball into a major issue and no one, least of all the BJP led Government would want it. On the face, it may just be about the appointment to the post of the Attorney General of the State, but a look at the prevailing situation says that it has the potential to be much more than just the appointment to a post. Time for all to take stock of the reality. Just rewind a year or two back, and one can easily recall the days of street protest in Imphal and the valley area, with the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System spearheading the movement that a mechanism be put in place to check the influx of non-local people into the State and one will get a fair idea of the point that is sought to be made here. Yes, it is just to a post and this will not amount to opening the door to large scale influx, but it will and can certainly go against the spirit of the movement which practically paralysed the State in 2015 and 2016. Over and above this, bar associations in the State have questioned the qualification of the person marked to be appointed to the said post and it is here that the State Government would be well suggested to not simply sweep aside the voice of opposition raised against the purported design to appoint a non-local person to the said post.
It would also do good for all to come to the point that the voice of opposition is not against non-local people per se but is a demand to put in place some sort of a mechanism to check the large scale influx of non-local people into the State. It is around this ‘slogan’ that the massive pro-ILPS movement was launched with no indication that it will die down any time in the future. It is on this premise that Congress MLA Kh Joykisan has thrown his weight behind the demand that no non-local person should be appointed to the post of Attorney General. A point which the BJP Government cannot afford to overlook. Now with a BJP led Government in place, the pressure to pass a Bill to safeguard the interest of the local people may just be intensified and it is this point which should not be lost on the State Government. From the question of filling up the post of the Attorney General to checking the inflow of non-local people into the State and one may raise the question of where the connection is. A look at the ground reality, which has just been spelt out, should explain this. As stated before, not exactly a test, but in tackling this question, the ability of the BJP led Government to understand the ground reality will be reflected well.
Source: The Sangai Express
