Imphal: Local residents of Keisampat area in Imphal West district of Manipur sat in group as a part of the ongoing agitation to press for implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) system in the state, official reports said on Friday.
Reports said hundreds of residents of Keisampat area here organised a demonstration by sitting at the local community hall yesterday to press for immediate implementation of the ILP system in the state without delay.
Reports from districts said people have been organising demonstrations at various places by sitting in groups to press for implementation of the ILP despite the resolution adopted in the ongoing assembly session to urge the central government to initiate steps for implementation of the ILP in the state.
“Increase in the population of non-Manipuris has reached an alarming situation and change in the demography is diluting traditional identity and customary practices in the state,’ said president of the Leipak Kanba Lup (organisation to save the state) Nepram Bihari whose party organised the demonstration by sitting at Keisampat area.
He alleged that there are 7 lakh non-Manipuris compared to 8 lakh indigenous people in the state. Students’ bodies, social organisations and different groups under Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) in Manipur have been organising various forms of democratic agitations in the past few months to press for implementation of the ILP in the state.
A spokesman of the JCILPS said the number of people who have come to the state for work and other forms of manual labours has outnumbered the total tribal population in the hill districts.
Official sources said said the recent resolution of the state assembly would be conveyed to the central government by the assembly speaker Th Lokeshore Singh.
They said the state assembly had also taken a similar resolution last year but its validity has expired and hence the recent assembly resolution.
General strike affects normal life
Normal life was today affected by 12-hour general strike in Manipur called by state CPI unit to press for its demands, including implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) and complete withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), official sources said.
Markets, transport services and business establishments remained closed in view of the strike, sources said, adding that private vehicles were, however, plying on the roads.
Several passengers were stranded at different places as the transport services between Imphal and district headquarters and with neighbouring states were cancelled as the strike was declared last evening.
A CPI spokesman said the strike was also in protest against the alleged ‘high-handedness of the police forces who broke a CPI-sponsored rally which were marching towards the state assembly on Thursday to protest against what it called ‘mis-governance’ of the Congress government in the state.
He said a CPI volunteer was also injured when police burst teargas shells. Other demands of the CPI include holding of peace talks with militant outfits without any condition, setting up protection forces for the national highways and opposition of the proposed privatisation of the health and power sectors in the state, the spokesman said.
Official reports said educational institutions were closed and attendance in government offices was reported ‘thin’ due to cancellation of public transport services.
Banks and air services remained unaffected, sources said, adding no untoward incident was, however, reported so far. (PTI)