Imphal: The Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (ILPS) has called a 46-hour “public curfew” from midnight of Friday May 6. The “public curfew” is to protest the State Government’s failure to get the President’s assent to three bills – Protection of Manipur People Bill, Manipur Land Reforms and Land Revenue (Seventh Amendment) Bill and Manipur Shops and Establishments (Second amendment) Bill – which were passed by the Assembly last year.
The Okram Ibobi Singh government introduced the bills and the state Assembly passed them unanimously following a sustained campaigning by the public committee for implementation of inner line permit in Manipur to check free entry of outsiders.
The bills are now pending with the office of President Pranab Mukherjee.
The CPI and Manipur Peoples Party have extended support to the agitation by the public committee and urged the government to consult the Centre to get the President’s assent.
But the hill tribes of Manipur who are opposed to the three Bills are unlikely to remain passive onlookers. The nine dead bodies which are kept in a morgue at Churachandpur are still lying unburied. These nine people had died due to police firing following a violent protest after the passage of the three Bills in August 2015. The dead bodies have become a bargaining chip for the tribal communities who want to Schedule Tribe status for protection of their land and resources.