ILP campaign: 'Let's make migrants depend on us not otherwise'
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, July 02 2012:
"The present situation in Manipur has become such that the hapless natives have come to depend heavily on the migrant population.
So, it is time to reverse the situation and make the migrants dependent on the natives for their survival" .
This was propounded by Meitankeishangbam Thambalmacha, a street vendor at Kwakeithel bazaar during a protest demonstration staged at Kwakeithel bazaar demanding re-implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Manipur today.
Thambalmacha observed that since most of the shops in Imphal bazaar selling daily essential commodities are owned by non-Manipuris, it has made all the indigenous people to depend on them for their daily needs.
Moreover, with the non-Manipuris occupying all the major market places in Imphal area, certain areas have come up in the heart of Imphal where the indigenous women of Manipur cannot go out freely soon after nightfall.
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In such a situation, if Inner Line Permit (ILP) system is not re-introduced at the earliest to stop influx of migrants, the day would not be far when the native people would find no place to dwell, she noted.
Thambalmacha went on to say that the case of Tripuris vanishing from the land of their birth does not necessarily mean that the indigenous people of Tripura have ceased to exist or got totally extinct like the dinosaurs, but they have been made minority in their own homeland.
When the population of migrants keeps on increasing, the indigenous people have been pushed to the peripheries and they ultimately have no say even in the governance of their state.
She expressed apprehension that now that the migrant population has captured the trade and business activities in the heart of Imphal, the day would not be far when the indigenous people of Manipur would also be similarly pushed to the peripheries of the state from continuous influx of migrant.
Suggesting ways and means to curb the impending grave situation, Thambalmacha maintained that along with re-implementation of ILP; sale of land to non-Manipuris should be prevented and restriction should be imposed on more than one non-Manipuri staying in a rented house as is done to Manipuris staying on rents in different parts of India.
Meanwhile, DESAM, KSA and SWAK jointly organised an awareness programme on ILP at Human Resource Development (HRD) Academy, Ghari today.