Bangla immigrants bigger threat : Khemchand
Source: The Sangai Express / TNN
Bhopal, September 20 2017:
Illegal immigrants from Bangladesh pose a greater threat to National security than Rohingya Muslims, Manipur Assembly Speaker Yumnam Khamchand Singh said in Bhopal on Tuesday .
Singh, who made a brief stopover here while returning from Vidisha, spoke to reporters about the problems arising out of migration of Rohingya Muslims and the Centre’s affidavit in Supreme Court to deport them .
A Taekwondo master, he had been to Vidisha for a National school sports championship .
Singh pointed out that Manipur shares a 367 km porous international border with Myanmar, but it faces a bigger threat of illegal migration from Bangladesh .
“Bangladeshi migrants have changed the demography in several districts of Manipur,” said Singh, who took oath as Manipur Assembly Speaker in March 2017.“Illegal immigrants from Bangladesh infiltrate the border, learn Manipuri dialect and in a year mingle with the local population,” he added .
Manipur has a population of 27 lakh, which includes 13 lakh from the local Meitei community.
To check illegal immigration, the State Government cleared a land reform bill which is pending with the Centre .
“The State Government is hopeful if getting it cleared,” he said, adding: “We want a new land reform law on the lines Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, whereby only agriculturists can purchase land and non-agriculturists are barred.
In Manipur, stricter land purchase rules will protect the rights of indigenous people.”
After the BJP Government took charge, there is stability and peace in Manipur and insurgency has subsided “to an extent”, he said.