Call for Just and Fair Delimitation Weed out the infiltrators
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It should be obvious to all, particularly to Delhi and Imphal. The Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (CJFD) is intent on making its stand that census and thereby delimitation, should come only after an exercise to weed out the illegal immigrants is conducted, is heard. This sounds perfectly logical and reflects the reality, a reality which has compelled the Government of India to fence the porous Indo-Myanmar border and more strictly regulate the Free Movement Regime (FMR). Check incursion from across the border and while the two indigenous groups of people, the Meiteis and the Nagas, have cried foul against the incursion from across the border and have backed the call to update the NRC, it stands that the Nagas are up against the border fencing at areas which they claim are their ancestral lands. The fencing would cut off the same stock of people living on either side of the border, is their line of argument and while it is acknowledged that the Nagas are not known to be a wandering tribe or a migratory group of people, the reality facing them should not be missed. What is happening at Litan and in some areas along the Ukhrul-Kangpokpi border should be clear to all and it was with a reason why The Sangai Express had on more than one occasion referred to the write up by a young Naga researcher on how the number of Kuki-Zo MLAs have increased over the years since 1972 while the number of Naga representatives has gone down. In short, it has always been the Nagas, as a community, which is the first to be affected due to the gradual incursion from across the border. This point should be acknowledged for if census is taken as it is now, then the possibility of many of those who have entered illegally, being counted as citizens of the land cannot be wished away. This is the number one point in the stand of the CJFD. The need to look at it from a broader canvass cannot be over emphasised. If delimitation is carried out now, without weeding out the illegal immigrants, and the ST seats is increased from say 20 to 25, does this guarantee that the new addition of five seats will mean a hike in the number of Naga MLAs or from some other community ? It should also not be forgotten that the 40 seats which are there in the valley are open seats, meaning anyone can contest and get elected from these seats, while in the case of the seats in the hill areas, they are reserved. Not even Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Congress leader Rahul Gandhi can contest from any of the 20 seats. Things should be clear and the stand of the CJFD should be understood in the correct perspective.
Just and Fair, these are the two key words. It is up to the Government and its think tank to decide what mechanisms ought to be put in to weed out the illegals and only bonafide citizens are given the right to decide who should represent them either in the Assembly or Parliament. And communities which are indigenous to the land should have no complaints against this. In fact all should join hands to mark, identify and weed out those who entered illegally but are today enjoying all the perks and benefits of bonafide citizens of the land. What is happening at Litan and the surrounding areas should be more than a lesson for the people of the land and if corrective steps are not taken up now, then what may happen in the coming decades is something that needs no specialised knowledge to understand. It should also be made clear that the campaign for just and fair delimitation is a drive not for the benefits of only the valley Constituencies but is an effort to ensure that the Assembly seats of Manipur are meant only for the genuine citizens of the land. This much must be made clear to everyone so that mischief makers are not given any room to create misunderstanding amongst the people. Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand has put it on record in the Assembly that delimitation will come about only after the SIR exercise is conducted, but it should be kept in mind that SIR may not exactly be the mechanism to weed out illegal immigrants. Voting rights should be given only to genuine citizens of the land and not those who may have entered the land during the Burmanisation programme of Ne Win in 1967.
Just and Fair, these are the two key words. It is up to the Government and its think tank to decide what mechanisms ought to be put in to weed out the illegals and only bonafide citizens are given the right to decide who should represent them either in the Assembly or Parliament. And communities which are indigenous to the land should have no complaints against this. In fact all should join hands to mark, identify and weed out those who entered illegally but are today enjoying all the perks and benefits of bonafide citizens of the land. What is happening at Litan and the surrounding areas should be more than a lesson for the people of the land and if corrective steps are not taken up now, then what may happen in the coming decades is something that needs no specialised knowledge to understand. It should also be made clear that the campaign for just and fair delimitation is a drive not for the benefits of only the valley Constituencies but is an effort to ensure that the Assembly seats of Manipur are meant only for the genuine citizens of the land. This much must be made clear to everyone so that mischief makers are not given any room to create misunderstanding amongst the people. Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand has put it on record in the Assembly that delimitation will come about only after the SIR exercise is conducted, but it should be kept in mind that SIR may not exactly be the mechanism to weed out illegal immigrants. Voting rights should be given only to genuine citizens of the land and not those who may have entered the land during the Burmanisation programme of Ne Win in 1967.