Patronising non-locals to stay : Nail the insiders
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 05 2018 -
Facilitating settlement of non-local people in the State in the name of minority group (s) cannot be tolerated.
This was Chief Minister N Biren while addressing a Go to Village camp at Heingang Mayai Leikai in Imphal East district on June 3.
The non-local people who the Chief Minister referred to are said to be from Tripura but this is really not the crux of the matter but the ‘facilitating’ part.
Significant to note too that the Chief Minister said this while referring to the drive launched at Awaching in which 74 houses were demolished.
The inference that the settlement of the non-locals was facilitated is what is frightening.
This is something which cannot be taken lightly and all concerned, particularly the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System should take note of it and give it the primacy that is needed.
The Chief Minister did not elaborate on whether the non-locals were actually natives of Tripura or not, but yet it is disturbing to note that a number of the North East States particularly Assam and Tripura have been feeling the brunt of the large scale influx of people from neighbouring Bangladesh.
The possibility that the non-locals who the Chief Minister referred to could be from the neighbouring country cannot be ruled out that easily.
Moreover it would also do good for all to remember that not so long back, a number of Rohingya Muslims were detected having mingled with the local population.
As observed back then in this column, the Rohingya Muslims could not have integrated into the local population without some sort of a support from the local people and it is this which need to be checked stringently.
More than the non-local people, it is the local people or the facilitators who should be penalised stiffly.
It is these elements within the local people who need to be pulled up and penalised.
That the Chief Minister has revealed this in the midst of the strong voice raised by the JCILPS to draft a Bill to regulate the inflow of non-locals into the State is what makes this reality all that more unacceptable.
This is a point which everyone should wake up to.
More than the non-locals who come and stay among themselves and can easily be identified it is the non-locals who come and merge in with the local folks that the people should be wary of.
And it stands that without the patronage of some section of the local people, it would be well nigh impossible for the non-local people to so easily merge with the local people.
It is this ugly reality that everyone should be on guard against.
The real enemy of the place are the set of people who willingly and knowingly make the arrangements for the non-locals to merge with the local people and thereby challenge the demography of the indigenous people.
This is a dangerous trend and apart from the Government all civil society organisations too should come together and see what they can do to stop this.
Or if what the Chief Minister said was misplaced then yes the people of Awaching who felt the brunt of the eviction drive should come out and deliver their position.
Manipur cannot afford such a situation.
The land is geographically small and patronising others to come and merge with the local population cannot be tolerated and justified under any circumstances.
* Comments posted by users in this discussion thread and other parts of this site are opinions of the individuals posting them (whose user ID is displayed alongside) and not the views of e-pao.net. We strongly recommend that users exercise responsibility, sensitivity and caution over language while writing your opinions which will be seen and read by other users. Please read a complete Guideline on using comments on this website.