AITUC set to take Manipur issue to Delhi, SC
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, January 13 2024:
A day after demanding establish-ment of a Highway Protection Force to curb criminal activi-ties along National Highway stretches, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Manipur has said that they are all set to head to New Delhi on January 16 and seek an audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Central leadership.
The union also said they will hold a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar on January 18 and later submit an affidavit pertaining to the Manipur crisis to the Supreme Court.
Speaking to the media at Irabot Bhavan today, general secretary of AITUC, Mani-pur L Sotinkumar said that the the Meiteis are now not safe to take the surface roads beyond the valley districts due to rampant extor- tion, looting, abduction, and killings by miscreants on National Highways.
Saying that Imphal-Moreh and Imphal-Ukhrul roads which have only eight Kuki villages in between has taken a heavy toll on daily wagers and drivers, Sotinkumar continued that criminal activities perpetrated along the highway stretches affect all the people of Manipur due to the obstruction in transportation of goods and essentials.
The price of essentials have skyrocketed making Manipur one of the States where retail inflation is at its highest, he said and added that the excesses taking place along the National highways are not a new thing.
Stating that AITUC, Manipur has been demanding establishment of a Highway Protection Force since decades back, Sotinkumar added that they met Governor Anusuiya Uikey yesterday and apprised her of the situation along the National highways passing through Manipur.
He conveyed that the Governor assured to see into the situation herself and do whatever she can to establish the Highway Protection Force.
Maintaining that they will head to New Delhi on January 16 and seek an audience with the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister and urge them to work out a political solution to the ongoing crisis in Manipur, the Left leader continued that they will submit a memorandum with a list of demands to the Central leaders.
Sotinkumar said that they will submit a copy of the memorandum to the Governor too.
A leaflet containing information on the Manipur crisis will also be submitted to the MPs of different political parties, he added.