Stating that Robinhood sacrificed his life to protect the indigenous people of the state, JCILPS chairman Luwanghca Chingkhei exhorted that people shall never forget the courage of Lamjing Meira Robinhood.
TFM Report
On the 6th death anniversary of Sapam Robinhood, who was martyred in police firing during the intense agitations demanding the Inner Line Permit System (ILPS) in Manipur, Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) convenor Shyam Khuman termed the ILPS being implemented in Manipur as a “toothless tiger”. He demanded that the Articles in the Manipur People’s Bill 2018, which was passed unanimously in the Manipur Legislative Assembly, should be included in the guidelines of ILPS.
The death anniversary of Sapam Robinhood was observed on Thursday at the memorial of the late student activist, dubbed Lamjing Meira, located at Awaching, Imphal East district. Organised by the JCILPS, the day was observed with few people maintaining COVID SOP due to the prevailing situations. Family members, members of student bodies, local clubs, Meira Paibi groups, CSOs, amongst others paid floral tribute.
Stating that Robinhood sacrificed his life to protect the indigenous peoples of the state, JCILPS chairman Luwanghca Chingkhei exhorted that people shall never forget the courage of Lamjing Meira Robinhood.
He maintained that even though ILPS has been implemented due to the widespread and intense agitations of the people, the present ILPS does not have the actual provisions to save the indigenous peoples. JCILPS will consult with experts to make the system a robust system to protect the indigenous peoples.
Echoing the concern raised by the chairman, JCILPS convenor Shyam Khuman informed that the Indigenous Peoples and Permanent Residence of Manipur peoples as mentioned in article number 3 of the ILPS guidelines are not well defined. Even as the committee has been demanding to make 1951 the base year, the present ILPS has not set any base year. It does not define the native people of the state well and also, there are no provisions to protect land, he added.
Shyam also informed that JCILPS conducted a drive to check the effectiveness of the system which was implemented one and a half years ago. Permit holders were found using the same without renewing it. Some fake permits were also found and some non-locals did not even have the permit, maintaining that they had official identification cards issued by the state government, he informed.
Raising concern over the imminent arrival of trains, he demanded to strengthen the present system to check the influx of non-locals.
Recalling the history of permit systems of Manipur, he said that the then chief commissioner Himat Singh had revoked the existing permit system for entry into and exit from Manipur on November 18, 1950. Activists of the All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU) agitated in 1980 and 1994 against the influx of non-locals in the state. An agreement was also signed with the state government. Unfortunately, the government continues to fail to work on it, he added.