Influx issue headache for all indigenes
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: November 19, 2022 -

WHILE only time will tell whether or not steps taken up by the government will help check the issue of spurt in the population of non-indigenes in the state, it is could be safely stated that implementation of only Inner Line Permit (ILP) system has not been effective in preventing influx of outsiders as the system is basically meant for regulating entry and exit of migrant workers and visitors from mainland states.

While migrant workers wouldn't fret in paying the nominal fee as mandated under the ILP regime for they are here to earn their livelihood, the real problem is that there are certain communities which seem to be welcoming cross border infiltration and helping in legitimising their permanent settlement.

For the past many years, valley-based civil societies have been expressing fear that the state's indigenes would be reduced to minorities in their own place of birth and launching movements to draw the government's attention ultimately resulting in the reintroduction of the ILP system.

Even when the public movement was at its peak, there was no moral support or physical participation from non-Meetei organisations regardless of the agitation aimed at seeking constitutional safeguard of all the indigenous communities.

Notably, there were instances when valley-based organisations' demand and campaign for enforcement of ILP or any other regulatory mechanisms were derided by non-Meetei groups to the extent of fuelling a narrative that the movement had ulterior motive to grab tribal land.

Such lukewarm response from non-Meetei groups was one of the reasons for those helming the affairs hesitating to promulgate the ILP system in the state.

However, it seems that the valley organisations' concerns and intentions are being gradually realised by other indigenous bodies as the influx issue sees no abatement.

For instance, the contention by Eastern Liangmai Naga Chiefs/Chairmen Association (ELNCCA) that Manipur will become another Tripura, where the indigenes have become minority in their own land, if the present government fails to act immediately, underscores that the problem arising out of influx of illegal immigrants is no more an issue for only the valley people of Manipur but has also affected all the indigenes across the state and whole of northeast region.

For the record, in 2005, the Supreme Court had ruled that the Centre had not done its duty to protect Assam from 'external aggression' due to the IMDT Act, which encouraged rampant illegal migration from Bangladesh.

The court's observation also reflected in an interview given to a national daily by then Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who presently is the chief minister, saying: "Our experience in the Northeast with immigrants has been very bad.

Over 30 per cent people are immigrants and as a result, the indigenous people are fast losing their identity... Our monasteries and temples have been encroached upon. We are in very serious trouble when it comes to immigration.

So, drawing from my experience in the Northeast, I don't think any more people should be given asylum or refugee status in India".

As Himanta's statement and advice is most relevant in Manipur at the juncture, the state government needs to prioritise protection of the rights of its bonafide citizens and insulate them from all unauthorised elements.