Bandh paralyses normal life in Jiribam
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, June 07 2011:
Life was totally paralyzed in Jiribam today owing to a 30-hour general strike called to pressurise the state government to upgrade the sub-division into a full-fledged revenue district.
The general strike commenced from last midnight and after conclusion at 6 am tomorrow, an economic blockade on NH 53 will be followed said the announcement made by the agitating Jiribam District Demand Committee (JDDC) .
Due to the general strike, shops and business establishments, educational institutes, government offices remained closed for the day.
All types of vehicles including trucks and buses along the Imphal-Jiribam section of NH 53 stayed off the road, an official report received here said.
The demand for conversion of Jiribam sub-division of Imphal East district into a full-fledged revenue district is as old as the demand to make Sardar Hill sub-division of Senapati district into a separate district.
The demands for Sardar Hills and Jiribam districts were pending for the last 10 years and the state government is yet to translate the assurances given to them on many occasions.
In the past, Chief Minister, O Ibobi Singh had assured the JDDC to fulfill their demand after the 2007 Assembly election.
Jiribam is dominated by various communities such as Meiteis, Muslims, Bengalis and other tribes and is the only town in land-locked Manipur to have a rail head.
The announcement of a series of protests by the JDDC comes up barely a month after the people of Phungyar sub-division in the Tangkhul Naga-dominated Ukhrul district raised a similar demand.
The people of Sardar hills in Senapati have also been seeking a revenue district status for the area.