MANIPUR CM DASHES TO DELHI AGAIN AMID STEPPING UP NRC AGITATIONS
Correspondent
IMPHAL, Aug 30: Amid increasing pressure for updation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) before the Census exercise, Manipur chief minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh once again dashed to New Delhi on Sunday afternoon, his second visit within a week.
Sources said that Singh rushed to the national capital after the Central leaders asked him to do so.
He earlier visited the national capital on August 25 and called on Union home minister Amit Shah the next day.
Before leaving Imphal on Sunday, the chief minister appealed to all sections of society in Manipur to refrain from imposing bandhs and blockades, while urging them to choose other forms of democratic agitation while seeking for the addressal of their demands from the government.
“I am travelling to New Delhi to meet top Central leaders and discuss various ongoing issues of the state,” he told DIPR reporters before leaving for New Delhi.
He did not directly relate his visit to people’s increasing pressure to date NRC before the census exercise, however, he appreciated the role played by the leaders of the 14 CSOs and the delegation of MLAs on the issue.
The delegations recently campaigned in New Delhi for the implementation of NRC in the state by meeting the Central leaders and the officials.
“Their campaign has yielded a positive response in New Delhi,” he said, signaling a positive response to the “No NRC no census” demand.
Talking to the reporters of the DIPR Manipur before taking the flight to Delhi, Singh also appealed to all sections of the society to refrain from imposing bandhs and blockades while airing their grievances, asserting that it sometimes led to unwanted violent incidents and urged them to adopt other forms of democratic agitation instead while talking to the reporters of the DIPR Manipur.
He asserted that the state government and the Union government were committed to fulfilling the aspirations of the people of the state.
“Calling a bandh will not serve any purpose and will instead create more hardship to the people,” he added.
Singh said that during a bandh, the main sufferers are daily wage earners and students. He pointed out that women vegetable vendors suffered a lot during a bandh as they earn their livelihood by selling their farm products daily, and any disruption in their work causes immense hardship to their families.
He added that students also suffered a lot as their normal academic atmosphere gets disrupted by bandhs.
Stating that students are the future pillars of society, he appealed to all stakeholders not to disrupt the academic calendar in the state.
The chief minister also warned any agitators who break the law attempting to create a chaotic situation of stringent action.
The chief minister’s appeal came in the backdrop of a proposed 24-hour statewide which Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (JFD) announced to impose from the midnight of August 31 and September 1.
The JFD decided to step up its “No NRC no census” campaign if the state government and the Central fail to take a concrete step to defer the census exercise in respect of the state by August 31. The JFD and other CSOs are pressing that an NRC update should precede the Census through strikes and sustained protests,
On Sunday, while addressing protest sites at various places, JFD leaders warned of intensified agitation if the government fails to announce a decision on updating the NRC before conducting the Census.
“If the government fails to respond positively to the demand by August 31, the 24-hour statewide general strike announced from midnight of August 31 to September 1 would be followed by other forms of agitations,” JFD finance secretary Sunil Karam said at one of the protests in Imphal today.