ILP to become Ibobi's Waterloo ?

Iboyaima Laithangbam *

Chief Minister Okram Ibobi :: Pix - TSE

People were expecting that the ILP bill would be introduced and passed during the current budget session. However the government slept over it and the JCILPS failed to propel and galvanise it into a flurry of activity even with its ultimatum. As a damage control measure the diplomatic deputy chief minister who chaired the all political parties committee says that the government could not take governor's assent with the result that it could not be introduced. But the unanswered question is why it could not obtain the assent of the governor.

However all sections of people are happy that the session is now extended. It is to be hoped that the bill will be passed. When the state government wrote a letter to the centre on August 3, 2012 requesting the extension of the ILP to Manipur the then union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde wrote back making it clear that this cannot be done in Manipur.

The minister did not explain and nobody asked why it cannot be done. Because the ILP has been in force in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland. Why should Manipur be discriminated against? Because in the 2001 census the population of the migration workers was next to the majority community. The 2011 census must have etablished that there is alarming demographic change and there must be good reasons why the community wise population is not divulged so far.

Whether in the same party or not a chief minister of a tiny and politically insignificant state like Manipur cannot make the tail wag the dog. Certainly Okram Ibobi is not Mamta Bannerjee and as such he cannot throw the gauntlet to Modi. When there is a clear cut stand of the union home ministry Ibobi cannot pass such a bill without jeopardising his position.

From the vists of 5 ministers in 6 days in Manipur Ibobi must have realised that the pack wolf attack is closing in. The plan of the BJP is to push out the Congress from the political map of the Northeast where the BJP is planning to form ministries after the 2017 elections. The Congress is tottering in Assam and other NE states can be managed satisfactorily. But the vice grip of the Congress in Manipur is the major stumbling block in the BJP gameplan.

And most of the visiting ministers were not pleased with the performances or lack of the same by the ministry here. Under the circumstances Ibobi will not risk his neck by passing the bill which is against the desire of the union government. Before Ibobi the Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma had faced the campaign. He used to say that the ILP is not a cast iron guarantee against influx of outsiders.

He quoted official statistics saying that the population of outsiders in Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh had increased significantly from 1971 to 2011. The population of Manipur according to the 2001 census was 22,93,896.

The Meiteis had a population of 751,422 which was followed by the migrant workers having 704,488. The population of all tribals in Manipur was 670,782 which is less than the migrant workers. The Muslims constituted 167,204. The 2011 census must be more revealing and appalling.

The anti-foreigners' movement in Assam had rocked the country with normal life thrown out of gear in Assam for a long time. The situation is back to a square one after lots of agitations and paper works. Journalists in Assam pointed out that it was primarily due to lack of integrity and sincerity among some leaders who had spearheaded the agitations.

Other NE states have not made much of an issue despite the presence of migrant workers and foreigners. It is comparatively easy on the part of the Bangladeshi nationals to sneak into West Bengal or Tripura and then fan out to other NE states. And the ethnic tribes from Myanmar have free access to some parts of Manipur and Nagaland.

It is not known what recommendations the all political parties committee had made to the government. However it is clear from the way the JCILPS had submitted a five point memorandum to the government that some important points are absent.

As regards the denial of land ownership right Okram Ibobi points out the constitutional position that the Indian citizens cannot be denied it and the migrant workers are Indians. But there are foreigners from Myanmar and Bangladesh and some of them were in possession of fake identity and voters' cards. And they are not Indians.

Being a rainbow state we have always about 6 Muslim MLAs and we have a proud record having had a Muslim chief minister apart from having so many Muslim ministers. Though they are not original Manipuris they have become out and out Manipuris now. In 1606 King Khagemba had brought 1000 Muslim POWs from Cachar areas.

They were to be used in making guns for the royal army. Nepalis have considerable population and we had a Nepali MLA. The Nepalis were disciplined and loyal soldiers in Assam Rifles. In 1946 the king's court had given permission for the construction of 64 houses for the ex-servicemen.

But today their population is said to be above 350,000. In the Jiribam constituency there are 28,000 voters and just 9000 of them are indigenous people. The prominent persons at Jiribam had claimed that they are Manipuris since one king had issued a decree giving them citizenship.

However they were silenced for ever when it was pointed out that there was no king in that name and the day on which the decree was supposedly issued was a public holiday. The complicated problem cannot be solved or oversimplified by a hard-to-believe statement by the deputy chief minister.

Well people must be bracing for a long drawn war. This time the battle will be fierce since the hidden agendas of the centre and the state governments, double role and discriminations are public knowledge.