FREINDS reiterates accusation
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, December 24 2011:
The Federation of Regional Indigenous Society (FREINDS) has once again accused Chief Minister Okram Ibobi of misleading Members of the Manipur State Assembly.
To a private member resolution raised by MLA O Joy about implementation of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation 1873 in Manipur in order to check the massive influx of non-local people, Ibobi reportedly stated that a PIL was pending in the Court against the same regulation and added that it would be sub-judice for the House to take a resolution on the matter when a case was pending in the Court.
Speaking to media persons today, FREINDS president Sapamcha Jadumani lamented that the private member resolution was withdrawn on account of the alleged false information given by the Chief Minister.
He said that a filed a PIL at the High Court on December 11, 2008 seeking and identification and deportation of foreigners who immigrated to Manipur illegally under the Foreigners' Act 1946 .
No case was filed under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation 1873, he clarified.
The Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation 1873 and the Foreigner Act 1946 are two different Acts and it was clearly pointed out in the last para of the third page of the PIL filed under the Foreigner Act 1946, Jadumani asserted.
To protect indigenous people and allow entry of non-local people under a well-defined system, the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation 1873 is enforced in Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.
Like these States, Manipur need a system like the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation 1873 to regulate the continuous influx of non-local people into Manipur.
The private member resolution was raised in this spirit, Jadumani said.
Reiterating that the said Regulation and the Act are two different things which are not connected at all, he accused Chief Minister O Ibobi of misleading the House.
Even though the Assembly session has been adjourned, the Government can convene a Cabinet meeting and take a resolution if the Government sincerely wish to check influx and allow entry and settlement of non-local people under a well-defined system, and save the future generations of Manipur, he added.