The current unrest in Manipur has a deeper structural problem that remains unanswered. Though “bandhs” and “economic blockades” are not new to the state, the present one is more of an implosion of the underlying problem; it’s an expression of the people’s anger at the government’s apathy to the political situation in the state. At […]
The current unrest in Manipur has a deeper structural problem that remains unanswered. Though “bandhs” and “economic blockades” are not new to the state, the present one is more of an implosion of the underlying problem; it’s an expression of the people’s anger at the government’s apathy to the political situation in the state. At […]
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2017/01/whose-manipur-is-it-anyway-veio-pou/
The Centre has rushed around 4,000 paramilitary personnel to Manipur in the wake of violence following economic blockade on National Highways connecting the state. While around 1,500 paramilitary personnel were rushed in to Manipur in last two days, around 2,500 paramilitary were dispatched to the state last week, a senior Home Ministry official said on […]
The Centre has rushed around 4,000 paramilitary personnel to Manipur in the wake of violence following economic blockade on National Highways connecting the state. While around 1,500 paramilitary personnel were rushed in to Manipur in last two days, around 2,500 paramilitary were dispatched to the state last week, a senior Home Ministry official said on […]
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2016/12/4000-indian-paramilitary-personnel-rush-in-to-manipur-as-unc-continues-indefinite-economic-blockade/
The war has begun. Manipur is bleeding. And the issue at stake is not the creation of new revenue districts. At the core lies the agenda of Naga integration or alternative arrangement for the Nagas of Manipur pushed by the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) and its frontal organizations including UNC. The NSCN-IM wants […]
The war has begun. Manipur is bleeding. And the issue at stake is not the creation of new revenue districts. At the core lies the agenda of Naga integration or alternative arrangement for the Nagas of Manipur pushed by the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) and its frontal organizations including UNC. The NSCN-IM wants […]
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2016/12/manipur-bleeds-centre-fiddles/
IMPHAL, Dec 10: Union HRD Minister and BJP Manipur election in-charge Prakash Javadekar has accused Chief Minister O Ibobi of following a dangerous divide and rule policy in the State. Speaking to media persons at the Nityaipat Chuthek office of BJP Manipur Pradesh here today, Prakash Javadekar stated that the Congress Government created seven new […]
IMPHAL, Dec 10: Union HRD Minister and BJP Manipur election in-charge Prakash Javadekar has accused Chief Minister O Ibobi of following a dangerous divide and rule policy in the State. Speaking to media persons at the Nityaipat Chuthek office of BJP Manipur Pradesh here today, Prakash Javadekar stated that the Congress Government created seven new […]
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2016/12/why-create-new-districts-now-when-the-cong-govt-has-been-sleeping-for-the-past-15-years-asks-bjp-ibobi-follows-divide-and-rule-policy-javadekar/
School van services suspended. Petrol pumps dry. Potatoes sold at Rs 35-40 per kg and many other essential items unavailable in the market. Serpentine queues in front of all bank branches to exchange the demonetised Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes with other …
School van services suspended. Petrol pumps dry. Potatoes sold at Rs 35-40 per kg and many other essential items unavailable in the market. Serpentine queues in front of all bank branches to exchange the demonetised Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes with other legal tenders and clearly the woes of the people can only be imagined. While the long queues will only be a temporary phase, there is nothing to suggest that the economic blockade will be lifted any day soon.
The post Targeting the common people Curse of economic blockades appeared first on The Sangai Express.
Read more / Original news source: http://www.thesangaiexpress.com/targeting-common-people-curse-economic-blockades/
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH VICE PRESIDENT, N.E.P.O (NORTH EAST PEOPLE ORGANIZATION) By – Momon Thoudam The Vice President Swadesh Sarkar of N.E.P.O (northeast people organization) in his interview has expressed that
Vice President Swadesh Sarkar of N.E.P.O (northeast people organization)
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH VICE PRESIDENT, N.E.P.O (NORTH EAST PEOPLE ORGANIZATION)
By – Momon Thoudam
The Vice President Swadesh Sarkar of N.E.P.O (northeast people organization) in his interview has expressed that they have started their agitation after getting certain instances of harassment on non- manipuri people in Imphal valley during ILPS demand campaign, they got those from people fleeing Imphal and also from the newspaper published in Manipur.
He stated that N.E.P.O has formed in protest against the harassment both mental and physical being carried out on Non-Manipuri people living in Manipur, Specially in imphal valley. He also said that this movement has support from all across Barak valley, neighbouring Tripura and also from other parts of Assam.
NEPO V.P. Swadesh Sarkar (left); Momon Thoudam (right) reporting from Jiribam Manipur.
In his interview he said that the when they came to know that those people who came to Manipur after 1951 will not be allow to stay, their name will be delete from electoral roll those who are in service with Manipur Government will be terminated and people won’t even live there in rent houses they started their movement.
This movement has nothing against Manipuri people but they are fighting with govt of Manipur to stop the atrocities being carried out on Non-Manipuri.
He cited that the economic blocked which started from 5.00 am today was called off, after getting assurance from the administration govt of Assam about certain agreement being inked between Assam, Manipur and govt of India within 7 days.
The D.C himself has assured about certain solution within 7 days or the N.E.P.O can carry out much larger movement in coming days.
He said that up to 1833 the entire Jiri valley up to Barak was under the kingdom of Cachari King and they have historically proof about it.
They believed in peaceful co-existence, he said people living in both side of Jiri river peacefully since ages and N.E.P.O has no grudge against people of Jiribam but their movement is with government of Manipur.
Earlier NEPO has strongly demanded Manipur government not to implement ILPS in Manipur and also has expressed their desire to remove Inner Line Permit system from the 3 North East states i.e. Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunchal Pradesh, where ILPS has been in placed for several decades.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/08/exclusive-interview-with-nepo-v-p-swadesh-sarkar-ilps-opposed-by-people-of-barak-valley-tripura-and-other-parts-of-assam/
Chandel, June 28: Trade activities with Myanmar have been affected during the last six consecutive days due to the indefinite economic blockade called by the All Tribal Students`™ Union Manipur
Blockade supporters checking a vehicle in Chandel district
Chandel, June 28: Trade activities with Myanmar have been affected during the last six consecutive days due to the indefinite economic blockade called by the All Tribal Students`™ Union Manipur (ATSUM).
After the volunteers of the Students body enforced the economic blockade along the Impha l- Moreh section of National Highway 102, trade activities with the neighboring country came to grinding halt for the last 6 days.
Blockade supporters continue to pull down goods after checking vehicles plying along the Imphal – Moreh road in between Thamlapokpi and Bongjang Village.
And a generator set belonging to Moreh Government Higher Secondary School was also burnt down by the volunteers of the students`™ body after pulling it down from a vehicle today.
Speaking to the media persons, Valan Aimol, Social and Culture secretary of All Tribal Students`™ Union Manipur (Maun Tombing) said that the students`™ body also acknowledge the hardship faced by the people due to the economic blockade, but we were compelled to launch the blockade as the State government has failed to address our grievances even after submitting several memorandum and serving an ultimatum to fulfill our charter of demands, he added.
He further told that after enforcing the blockade for the last 6 days, the state government did not response positively till date. If the State government did not response positively at the earliest, the student body will intensify our agitation including total blockade/bandh in the near future, warned the students`™ leader.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/06/atsum-warns-to-intensify-blockade/
By Alex Guite LAMKA, September 5: Vehicle owners in Churachanpur district have not received any petrol from the three pumps located in Lamka town for the last six days and
By Alex Guite
LAMKA, September 5: Vehicle owners in Churachanpur district have not received any petrol from the three pumps located in Lamka town for the last six days and with a blockade looming large along the National Highways, it seems there is no respite for motorists who can only just wait and watch.
Officials of the district on conditions of anonymity told IFP that they are hard-pressed to fix the problem which is compounded by rampant selling of petrol in the black market.
If petrol ceases to be available in the black market, motorists will be left without any means to buy petrol as oil depots are running dry. The district collector PK Jha told IFP that he has been monitoring the situation and was trying to fix the problem.
The fuel scarcity has been hard on the motorists who have to run helter-skelter to get fuel at a price which is already as much as Rs. 40 more than the usual price as black marketers now sell it at Rs 110 per litre or more.
The shortage is compounded by frequent bandhs and blockades in Manipur but the lack of compliance to the proposed regulations of the district administration has also played a major factor.
The DC had issued an order on May 5 that heavy motor vehicles should be allotted 40 litres of diesel, light vehicles with 20 litres of diesel, both diesel and petrol versions of three wheelers with either 10 litres of diesel or petrol, four wheeler petrol vehicles with 20 litres of petrol and two wheelers with 10 litres per day.
The directive to enforce the allocations has however not been implemented.
Many motorists told this correspondent that they were helpless as owners of petrol pumps in collusion with the black marketers continue to flout the regulations from the district administration.
Meanwhile, Churachandpur SP K Kabib told IFP that they are planning to routinely monitor the black marketing of all essential commodities apart from petrol and LPG after receiving complaints and having notice such practices by the black marketers who take advantage of the frequent bandhs.
However, some of the petrol pump owners claimed that they are not to be blamed as the petrol which are sold in black are procured from Mizoram at Rs 95 per litre with great difficulty which the black marketers sell at Rs 120 or more per litre.
Despite the fact that the owners of petrol pumps in town are not entirely responsible for the booming sell of fuel in the black market, they cannot be let off the hook easily either, a motorist said.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/black-marketers-make-merry-as-churachandpur-grapples-with-acute-scarcity-of-fuel/
by Yambem Laba BY definition, Manipur has been called a “failed state”. Personally, I prefer… more »
by Yambem Laba
BY definition, Manipur has been called a “failed state”. Personally, I prefer the term “functional anarchy” because, going by the events of the day, Manipur should have ceased to exist amidst the chaos and confusion that prevails at the moment. But life seems to go on as though things are normal. How does one exist in a situation where onions costs Rs 60 a kg, potatoes Rs 40 a kg, eggs are pegged at six rupees apiece, petrol costs Rs 150 a litre and an LPG cylinder sells for a “mere” Rs 2000? The going rate for a sub-inspector’s post in the police department is Rs 25-30 lakh and a supervisor’s post in the social welfare department is said to be available at Rs 30 lakh. Everything is available in the state provided you have the purchasing power, to use economic jargon. Manipur is also said to be the place where money pours through many pores.
From “Switzerland of the East’, it graduated to “Bandhpur” and now it can aptly be called “Blockadepur”. There are two blockades running concurrently in Manipur — an economic one called by the Kukis in demand for a separate Sadar Hills District and a counter-blockade called by the Nagas opposing the creation of the Sadar Hills district. Strategically, the battle for the creation of the new district and those opposing it are being fought on three national highways that connect Manipur with the mainland. The first, National Highway No. 39, connects the state with Dimapur in Nagaland and Moreh on the India-Myanmar border; the second, National Highway No. 53, connects Imphal with Silchar in Assam; and the third is National Highway No. 150 that connects Imphal with Nagaland via Jessami in Ukhrul district.
The writ of the Sadar Hills wallahs ends at Kangpokpi, some 45 km north of Imphal on NH-39, from where on it is in the hands of the Naga opposers; and on NH-53 it ends 40 km from Imphal at Tupul and thereafter it is Naga territory till it tapers down to Jiribam on the border with Assam, where another blockade is in the offing, thanks to the demand for a separate Jiribam district. On NH-150, the Nagas have almost full sway all the way through.
The Manipur government seems to have abandoned NH-39 to the protagonists of the new district and those opposing it, as the only bid to break the blockade has been to deploy the Assam Rifles, whom the protesters have accused of bringing in goods meant for civilian consumption under the guise of requirements for the Army. This led to a major confrontation at Kangpokpi on 6 September where some nine fully laden trucks were reduced to cinders and the Assam Rifles ultimately resorted to a baton-charge that left 56 women protesters injured. The state has been concentrating on NH-53, commandeering some 500-700 trucks to ply along it with security escorts. But the Nagas have been able to ambush a few trucks, leading to the truckers refusing to ply along NH-53 because of “inadequate security cover”. They even pointed out that miscreants armed with sophisticated weapons and apparently “belonging” to the counter-blockade wallahs were behind the ambushes.
Theoretically, the Sadar Hills District Demand Committee hinges its drive for a separate district on the full implementation of the Manipur (Hill Areas) Autonomous District Council Act, 1971, (Parliament Act No.76 of 1971). The Sadar Hills has an autonomous district council with an additional deputy commissioner in charge of the area, but technically it forms part of Naga-dominated Senapati district, although in the Sadar Hills area the Kukis are in a majority. Practically, the Nagas see this as a major threat to their dream of a greater Nagalim or the alternate administrative arrangement they are demanding from the Centre for the Naga areas of Manipur. That is why the NSCN(I-M) ambushed Phungyar legislator Wunoshang Keishing of Ukhrul for demanding a separate Phungyar district. Some six of his security escort party were killed earlier this year but he miraculously survived.
Former home secretary GK Pillai was in Imphal the other day and he said the National Highways were the Centre’s responsibility, but one can forget about New Delhi noticing the happenings in Manipur. Chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh was likened to Nero fiddling as Rome burned, as he went off on a jaunt to Japan, an extended tour of Europe on the cards. But apparently he had to return post haste from Tokyo upon the Union home ministry’s directive. BJP national spokesman Prakash Jadavedkar was in Imphal too, and he demanded President’s Rule be imposed in Manipur, citing the failure of the state to open up the highways and curtail the runaway inflation that is now plaguing Manipur.
At the height of the Naga-Kuki conflict in the early 1990s, I was asked to define the situation. I had then said that both sides were mad but the Nagas had a method in their madness while the Kukis had none. This was aptly demonstrated when the Sadar Hills wallahs called for a month-long general strike along NH-39, bottling up thousands of ordinary Manipuris who leave the state every day by bus. Mercifully, the general strike has been lifted but a lot of goodwill has been lost in the process. This was coupled with not allowing life-saving medicines in and even ambulances to ply, resulting in hospitals closing down their intensive care units and postponing operations.
The last straw entailed the leadership of the Sadar Hills District Demand Committee issuing a “call to arms” to its supporters. “The decision of the SHDCC is legitimised by the village chiefs and therefore the people must stand by the decision of the demand committee. We must be ready with any weapon grade objects at our disposal,” read a statement issued by the committee, advising people to stock up essential commodities and food for at least two months, adding that “we are prepared for the worst”.
This was something the Ibobi government could not ignore. At a Cabinet meeting held on 13 September, it decided to file FIRs against the leaders of the SHDCC. The Cabinet also issued directives to the state home department to seize the thousands of licensed guns in the hands of the people of the Sadar Hills area. Whether such directives would amount to wishful thinking or not is yet to be seen, but in the meantime I have started using wood to cook my food.
The writer is The Statesman’s former Imphal-based Special Correspondent.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/a-functional-anarchy-called-manipur/
