Manipur: Rally against Manipur People’s Bill

26 July 2018:

The All Jiribam United Minority People’s Joint Action Committee (JAC) took out a protest rally opposing the cut-off year of 1951 in the “Manipur People’s Bill-2018”.

The JAC said Manipur had attained statehood in 1972 whereas the Bill makes 1951 as the base year to identify locals. Moreover, no proper documents were issued by the government during the period of 1951 in Jiribam.

The Manipur People's Bill-2018 was passed in the state Assembly on July 23 this year.

According to this Bill, any citizen, who fails to prove his or her presence in Manipur on or before 1951, will not be considered as a citizen of the state and will be declared foreigner. The Bill also states that people who moved to the state after 1951 will have no voting rights. Also, they will be deprived of land rights. Even people from the Barak Valley of Assam, who migrated to Manipur after 1951, will not be registered as citizens of Manipur.