State BJP seeks justice for fake encounter victims
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, June 27 2014 : A group of State BJP leaders has appealed to Union Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh for doing justice to over 1500 persons killed in fake encounters in Manipur during the last two decades.

In a representation submitted to the Union Minister, the State BJP leaders recalled that during his election rally at Imphal on February, 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also assured to do justice in this regard.

"The matter is pending before the Supreme Court of India at the moment but an indication from your end will go a long way in ensuring justice", the representation signed by Santi kumar Sharma, former President of BJP Manipur and National Executive Member; S.Rajen Singh, Vice President of BJP Manipur and Ex-Minister; Y.Khemchand Singh, Vice President of BJP Manipur and N. Ratan alias Kapu, State Executive Member of BJP, said.

On the issue of fostering national integration, the representation noted that the Government of India has been engaging with NSCN-IM, an underground outfit of the Nagas, and also the State Government with some Kuki and Meitei underground outfits for peace talks.

"We have no objection in inviting these misguided outfits to join in the mainstream and in rehabilitating them.

However, Government of India should not yield to any pressure which will affect the territorial integrity of all the States of North-East and to the federal structure of the country.

There should be peaceful political dialogue and zero tolerance to any extremist group," the representation said.

For improving connectivity of Manipur with rest of the country, the representation said that the initiative taken by the last NDA Government led by A.B.Vajpayee for the construction of Express Highway (Super Highway) from Saurastra in Gujarat to Silchar in Assam should be extended uptoMoreh in Manipur.

The Jiribam to Imphal portion presently having a distance of 220 Kms.

in a mountainous terrain should be shortened by way of tunneling for a stretch of about 70 Kms.

"The distance from Imphal to Jiribam which is at present 220 Kms.

would be brought down to 100 Kms.

At present, transportation from Imphal to Silchar/ from Silchar to Imphal takes about 8 days.

Even if the road is improved it will take 4 days.

The cost of transportation at present is about Rs.30,000 to Rs.40,000 for a truck.

In the event of tunneling it will take only 1 day and government can charge Rs.10,000 per trip by way of tall tax.

The present distance of Pallel to Moreh(border town near Myanmar) is about 65 Kms.

For transportation by trucks it takes about 3 hours to cover this distance.

By tunneling this portion, the distance can be reduced to 30 Kms and for any truck/goods vehicle it will then takes 30 minutes only.

These measures will also help in avoiding security risk, security cost and accidents.

The cost of tunneling from Jiribam to Bishenpur may cost about Rs.4500 crores and Pallel to Moreh may cost Rs.1800 Crores.

This will help in improving trade & commerce with South East Asian Countries", the representation suggested.

It further said that payment of 500 Sikas per month was made by the Burmese Government to Manipur for use of the Kabaw Valley by them following the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826 was arbitrarily waived by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India in 1953 without consulting either the Parliament of India or the people of Manipur.

This act has violated the Constitution and the agreement with Burma made in 1953 and thus it needs to be relooked comprehensively so that the Burmese Government either pay the money in the present value or return the Kabaw Valley of Manipur.

Demanding rising of a Manipur Regiment in the Indian Army, the representation pointed out that Manipuris are a martial race who fought valiant wars against the Burmese, Chinese and the British.

"It is imperative here that you may kindly issue necessary directions to raise a Manipur Regiment so that the Manipuri youths will get a sense of involvement in the defence of the country besides giving employment to thousands of unemployed youths of the State", the representation added.

Taking up other issues, the State BJP leaders urged for initiating steps to prevent the present system of cornering of 25 percent of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme by the MLAs from the budget and to ensure that the Zilla Parishad and Autonomous Districts Council in the hill areas function fully autonomy and financial freedom.

They further pointed out that there is an acute shortage of both water and power supply in Manipur and efforts should be made to ensure availability of adequate power supply to the State as its lack is hampering industrial growth and all spheres of life in the State.

Steps may also be initiated to ensure that adequate potable water is also available to the general masses of the State.

The representation went on to say that Manipur has for the last 20 years, been known as the "Powerhouse for Sports" of India.

So, steps may be initiated to establish a Sports University in the State to enhance the sporting talents of the State and also channelize them for bringing glory to the nation.

"As Hon'able PM Narendra Modiji stated in the Imphal Rally "without Manipur culture, Indian culture is not complete", we would like to establish a Cultural University in Manipur to preserve and promote the rich cultural heritage of Manipur", the representation said, adding that the existing Indira Gandhi National Tribal University (Regional Centre) in Manipur may also be upgraded a full-fledged Tribal University as the State Government has already allotted land for the said University.

Development of Inter-Districts roadways connecting the Capital Imphal and other the Districts as well as roadways connecting to borders areas of the State, inclusion of Manipur language (Meetei script) in Indian currency note and demand for categorisation of Meiteis as Scheduled Tribes are other issues highlighted in the representation.

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