Onslaughts from the East and West :: Sounding a note of caution
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 22, 2012 -
non-locals at Jiribam :: Pix - TSE
Being cautious is not being alarmist.
On the contrary throwing caution to the wind will come closer to engineering a demographic catastrophe. Delhi and Imphal may not be inclined to toe the line of the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System, Kangleipak over the claim that of the 28,000 names listed in the electoral roll at Jiribam, illegal migrants make up for 20,000, but there is no reason why this should not be ‘taken note of’.
The Census may not show it and not everyone may be in a position to proof it, yet everyone knows that there has been a gradual rise in the population of immigrants in Manipur down the years.
Whether they are bonafide citizens of the country or infiltrators from across Bangladesh and Myanmar is for the Government to find out, but the growing population of migrants should be the starting point for the Government to get down to the business of checking influx.
The Geography offers telling insights. Jiribam is located on the Manipur-Assam border.
Very easy for illegal migrants from Bangladesh who have flooded Assam to spread out and cross over the boundary to Manipur.
At the height of the tension triggered by the mass exodus of North East people from different cities of the land and when the State Government first launched the crackdown on illegal migrants, The Sangai Express had quoted a source from the Union Home Ministry that some illegal migrants at Jiribam had managed to lay their hands on the EPIC cards issued by the Election Commission of India. The findings rattled off by the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System fits in well with what the source from Delhi had informed us.
This is what is disturbing and this should be enough to stir the Government to the words of caution sounded. Assam is a living example of what unchecked migration from across the border can do to the land and the people. Cut to Moreh and the situation is as frightening, if not more acute.
With Manipur sharing a 380 kilometre long, porous border with Myanmar, it will not be that difficult for migrants from across the border to sneak in. Given the similar racial stock, it will be that much easier for the migrants from Myanmar to blend in with the local population.
And there is nothing to suggest that this has not been happening down the years. The allegations hurled against an armed group, which is active in Moreh area, that its origin is from Myanmar say something much more than rivalry with other armed groups, but indicate the ease with which migrants from across the border can easily meld into the local populace.
Human onslaught, albeit slow and gradual, from the eastern and south western front, this is the reality that Manipur is facing today.
It is this reality which the State Government and Delhi should take cognizance of. The pull factor, which is nature's gift to Manipur, should not be allowed to morph into a disaster through the sheer inadequacy of the Government and its agencies. Bodoland, a lush, green and fertile area is the prime example that Manipur cannot afford to overlook.
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