Tongjeimarin district demand resurfaces
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, November 06 2016:
Even as a tense stand off has enveloped the entire State for and against the demand to grant district status to Sadar Hills and Jiribam, the Tongjeimarin District Demand Committee (TDDC) has again upped the ante and reiterated the demand that Tongjeimarin district, comprising Nungba, Noney and Khoupam sub-division, parts of Sadar Hills, Churachandpur and villages bordering Jiribam be created.
In a statement, TDDC said that Tongjeimarin has a great historical significance and added that it played a major role in the growth and development of the cultural history of Manipur.
It was through this route that Manipur established cultural and political contacts with neighbouring States but despite this Tongjeimarin route has remained one of the most neglected areas in the State, said the statement.
Stating that Tongjeimarin has all the required criteria to be declared a district, TDDC said that the recent move of the State Government to upgrade Sadar Hills to the status of a district and ignoring the demand to grant district status to Tongjeimarin is a direct affront to their genuine demand.
The demand of the TDDC merits the same consideration with that of Sadar Hills and Jiribam, it added.
Pointing out that the demand for Tongjeimarin district is not based on ethnic line, TDDC said it is based on administrative convenience and for the speedy development of the area.
Recalling the past, the statement said that the demand to create Tongjeimarin district took a concrete step with the formation of the TDDC during the time of W Nipamacha as the Chief Minister of Manipur on July 11, 1998 .
An invitation was once received to discuss the issue from the then Chief Secretary DS Poonia on October 7, 2012, said TDDC and added this was purely in view of the interest of the State.
TDDC again appealed to the State Government to step up needed steps to create the proposed district and warned that failure to respond will constrain them to launch different forms of agitation.