Imphal, Oct. 5: The campaign for introduction of inner line permit system may turn into a public movement against migrants, with the committee spearheading the campaign setting November 18 as the deadline for the government to introduce the system.
The call for mass campaign in localities where there are more migrants came during a one-day national convention on ILP organised here by the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System today.
“We have set November 18 as the deadline for the government to make the system applicable in Manipur. If no positive response comes by then, the public will take responsibility and enforce the permit system,” Sapamcha Jadumani, convener of committee, said.
The convention took place after Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde turned down the resolution taken by Manipur Assembly on July 13 to introduce the system.
The general secretary of All Manipur Students Union, Ninthoujam Dipanjit, said people should stand up against influx.
Speakers at the convention also suggested that house owners should not give migrants rooms on rent and people should not engage them in any kind of jobs.
The minister had said on September 10 that the Constitution did not allow for the permit system in Manipur. Shinde’s remarks had come under severe criticism with legal experts calling it “breach of privilege” of the Assembly.
The government had sent the resolution to the Union home ministry for consent. However, Shinde’s statement has made it very clear the Centre has no intention of making the system applicable in Manipur, though it is in practice in Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. However, lawyers and social activists feel the inner line permit was not enough to check the influx of migrants.
“The ILP is not enough to check the influx. People should be involved in the campaign and their stand against influx, would leave migrants no place to stay. The state government should also amend the land revenue and land reforms acts to disallow outsiders from becoming land owners,” said L. Khomdon, former project director of Manipur AIDS Control Society, said.
