UNC's economic blockade continues ; Meeting achieves no breakthrough
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, November 15 2016:
Even though Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Joint Secretary (North East in-charge) Satyendra Garg held a meeting with UNC leaders at Delhi today, the meeting ended without arriving at any kind of understanding.
The meeting which started at 11.30 am and went on for almost two hours failed to thrash out a solution on the issue of the ongoing indefinite economic blockade.
As such, the protracted economic blockade is unlikely to be lifted any time soon.
Meanwhile, it is reported that a joint meeting of civil society organisations based in Sadar Hills and the general public would be held in the next couple of days to decide the next course of action regarding the State Government's last minute retraction from declaring Sadar Hills as a full fledged district.
A key functionary of the UNC informed that the four MoUs signed between the UNC and other Naga civil organisations and the Government of Manipur about keeping Naga ancestral lands untouched while creating new districts in Manipur were highlighted during the meeting with the MHA Joint Secretary (North East in-charge) .
Expressing deep apprehension that the State Government was likely to declare Sadar Hills as a full fledged district before the Manipur Legislative Assembly election, the UNC leaders sought immediate intervention of the Central Government.
After listening to the UNC delegates, Satyendra Garg assured them that the Central Government would do whatever was possible to resolve the issue in consultation with the Government of Manipur.
The UNC had made its points to the MHA but the meeting could not arrive at a concrete decision as no State Government official was present at the meeting, said the UNC functionary.
He added that there was no question of lifting the ongoing economic blockade as of now.
The UNC delegation led by president Gaidon Kamei and general secretary S Milan are expected to arrive at Imphal soon.
On the other hand, JAC Sadar Hills was considering to hold a public meeting on the issue of creation of Sadar Hills district and the ongoing economic blockade in the next couple of days.