ILPS not enough, says JCILPS
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 10 2019: While welcoming Union Home Minister Amit Shah's announcement in the Lok Sabha yesterday that Inner Line Permit System (ILPS) would be extended to Manipur, the JCILPS has categorically stated that people of the State cannot afford to be complacent as ILPS would not be enough to protect the indigenous communities fully.

Speaking to media persons this afternoon, JCILPS convenor YK Dhiren said that extension of ILPS to the State is a not complete solution to their movement.

The mass movement of 1980's spearheaded by AMSU and the recent one orchestrated by JCILPS are all aimed at enactment of a law under which outsiders would be identified and indigenous people are safeguarded.

ILPS is already there in Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh but these neighbouring States were unable to protect themselves from the influx of non-local people.

That was why, the mass movement spearheaded by JCILPS gave more thrusts to enactment of an Act under which the indigenous people and their land can be protected effectively, Dhiren said.

He then pointed out that Bills passed by the Manipur Legislative Assembly in 2015 and 2018 are being kept frozen by the Central Government instead of granting Presidential assent.

ILPS neither specifies any base year nor does it have any provision for identification of non-local people.

All non-local people who came to Manipur after 1951 should be identified and sent back to their native places.

They should not be allowed to settle in Manipur.

These have been the primary demands of JCILPS all these years.

As JCILPS has no provision to identify non-local people and send them back, JCILPS does not see implementation of ILPS as a complete solution to the issue of protecting indigenous people from the incessant influx of non-local people, said the JCILPS convenor.

It is crucial for both the State Government and the Central Government to inform the public whether any base year would be specified for implementation of ILPS in the State.

Just because ILPS has been implemented, one cannot say that the indigenous people are fully protected, he asserted.

It's not the time for celebration.

Rather all sections of people need to work together to make ILPS foolproof by making necessary amendments, he said.

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