Protect the idea of Manipur: UCM
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, May 17 2024:
The United Committee Manipur (UCM) has given a clarion call to the people of Manipur to have a firm belief that every little contribution counts in safeguarding the State.
"Fight for the cause of Manipur with a conviction that I will protect my land," the UCM said in an appeal to the people.
The statement was given by UCM president Joychandra Konthoujam during a felicitation ceremony held at Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The felicitation ceremony was organised in honour of the UCM team which is currently in Bangladesh as part of their campaign to trace the footprints of Manipuris living outside the State.
Speaking as the chief guest at the ceremony, Joychandra said that Meetei people are scattered across the globe and some of the places where Meiteis live in large number are Assam, Tripura, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Saying that Meitei people living outside Manipur don't do anything which is detrimental to the places wherever they are living, the UCM president added that Meiteis are big hearted people and they live peacefully wherever they are outside the State.
However, the situation in Manipur is very bad, Joychandra maintained and cautioned that Meiteis may even become a minority in their own land if no corrective action is taken up.
Saying that there is no let up in the influx of illegal immigrants from Myanmar to Manipur by taking advantage of the situation in the neighbouring country, Joychandra maintained that many of the illegal immigrants have settled in Manipur by encroaching on forest lands.
The railway network will also reach Manipur in some years and the same will pave the way for more non-locals to enter the tiny State, the UCM president said and added that meaningful discussions must be held from now onwards and decide what steps should be taken up to protect the Meiteis from all the threats they have been enduring.
If the Meitei people want to protect the land passed down by 'our ancestors' then we must not sell even a single plot of land to outsiders, he said and added that protection of the land from being taken by outsiders is the first step to protect the ethnic group.
There is also a need to increase the population of Meiteis, he said.
Stating that the settlement areas of Meiteis have been shrinking, he added that the Meiteis must put a collective effort to get the right to settle in hill districts.
Expressing desire to set up a common network for the Meitei people living in Manipur and beyond to help one another at the time of need, the UCM president added that Meitei people should give whatever contribution they can to protect and strengthen the Meiteis.
Saving Manipur won't be possible without a conviction to do so, Joychandra asserted and called for unity among the Meitei people.