Imphal, December 29: Reacting to the statement of Chief Minister O Ibobi concerning Jiribam and which was published in papers today, the Jiribam District Demand Committee has flayed the statement of the Chief Minister saying that they were self-contradictory.

The JDDC has also decided to call a 24 hour Jiribam bandh from 6 pm of December 30 to 6 pm of December 31 While acknowledging that the demand for upgrading Jiribam sub-division to a revenue district was justified, the Chief Minister excused himself saying that the Jiribam issue could not be resolved due to the vexed issue of Sadar Hills.

Such ambiguous statement is tantamount to befooling the people of Jiribam, noted JDDC in a press release.

If the SPF Government is so concerned about the reaction and possible resentment by the people of Sadar Hills while upgrading Jiribam to a revenue district, then why has the SPF Ministry failed to take into account the possibility of similar reactions when huge amounts of money is pumped in Thoubal and Imphal West to develop modern civic amenities, asked the JDDC.

Observing that the justified demands of the Jiribam people are deliberately being kept aside by clubbing together the Jiribam issue with the controversial issue of Sadar Hills, it asked the SPF Govt to resolve the issue of Sadar Hills and fulfil the aspirations of people there instead of victimising the people of Jiribam sub-division for no fault of theirs.

In view of the prolonged 'political victimisation' of Jiribam people, the State Govt should declare Jiribam a full fledged revenue district rather than waiting for the election code of conduct to come into force.

Only then the achievement of SPF Government can be assumed complete in spirit and letter otherwise it can be rightly said that the achievements of the SPF Government in its long five years were confined to Imphal only.

Reiterating its stand to intensify its agitation and not to respond to any invitation for talks with the State Govt until and unless the sub-division is granted district status, JDDC asserted that conversion of Jiribam into a district is the one and only solution for JDDC and Jiribam people.

As for the Jiribam people, the demand to upgrade Jiribam is felt in the same way the whole of Manipur felt when they demanded statehood.

Jiribam people felt the same feeling the people of Manipur felt when the Govt of India delayed the demand to grant statehood to Manipur and this feeling was the main driving force behind erasing the word "Manipur" from the sign-boards of the sub-division, disclosed the statement.

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