Yaingangpokpi appeals
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, May 13 2024:
Yaingangpokpi village and its Meira Paibis have appealed to "groups" concerned to refrain from demanding money from shops.
Addressing a press meet at Manipur Press Club, Imphal today, Yaingangpokpi Lamjing Nupi Lup member Nepram Somola said when the village as a whole is bearing the brunt of the ongoing conflict, certain groups have unfortunately demanded money from shops in Yaingangpokpi Bazar.
Amid the crisis besieging the State, work is scarce and people are earning very little.
Locals including the shop owners in Yaingangpokpi are also unable to tend to their fields in the peripheries due to rampant attacks by the Kuki militants.
Demanding money from the shops at such hard times has compounded the woes of the people, she said.
Somola further said the whole of the village has been contributing all they can to help the people who have been affected by the ongoing conflict since May 3, 2023.When able-bodied men were guarding the village, Meira Paibis had contributed whatever they could to help the victims and aid in the efforts to guard the village.
Each Meira Paibi contributed Rs 10 every Sunday to help the victims, she added.
"Our sons and men are in the peripheries guarding villages.
Work is scarce and people are earning very little.
The groups demanding money from the shops, who are also earning little, will ultimately hurt the people," she said.
If the groups need money for their cause, then they can approach and consult the local organisations to help them, she added.
If the groups concerned do not cease their demand for money to the shops, then Meira Paibis and the locals will launch intense agitations, she said.
Yaingangpokpi village chairman Abhiram Laimayum, who was present in the press meet, also urged groups concerned to refrain from demanding money from shops.
The demand will hurt the shop owners and the people alike.
It will add more burden on the people who are already suffering because of the conflict, he added.