Sheohar, April 21 2010: The ultimatum issued by militant outfits operating in Manipur to the labourers of Bihar to leave the State by April 30 is all set to snowball into a major political controversy with the CPI (Maoist) extending its support to the Bihari labourers and plan to come out with a counter ultimatum.

A member of Tirhut sub-zonal committee of the Naxal outfit Sher Khan said on Tuesday that a delegation of the CPI (Maoist) visited Manipur recently and found the militants' ultimatum true.

"We are with the labourers of Bihar and Jharkhand.

If they are forced to leave the State, we will not remain silent on the issue," he said.

In an interview with some local media persons, Khan said that the CPI (Maoist) would also issue an ultimatum to the students of Manipur enrolled in different educational institutions in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal to leave these places by June 30 .

Even the people working in other organizations in the four States would not be spared.

"We have clear stand on the issue.

If ill-treatment being meted out to Bihari labourers is not stopped immediately, we will decide other course of action also," Khan said.

Khan, who was part of the delegation, said that a large number of labourers from Bihar and Jharkhand were engaged in work in Manipur.

"The militant outfits want to drive them out from the State as they apprehend threat from them," he added.

He said that the decision to issue a counter ultimatum to the residents of Manipur to leave Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal was taken at a meeting of the leaders of the four States of the banned outfit on Bihar-Nepal border.

Khan, said to be a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was in Sheohar-Champaran region to review the organizational set up of the outfit.

"We are trying to strengthen our base in the districts bordering Nepal," he added.
Courtesy Hindustan Times.

The proscribed RPF had recently set a deadline for all non-local labourers to leave Manipur by April 30 this year, as there has been a spurt in the killing of such labourers by unidentified gunmen.

A number of migrant workers especially from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand etc are presently working as daily wage earners in Manipur.

Most of them are engaged as coolies, cart pullers, masons and carpenters.

So far the police has not been able to identify or name the group responsible for the killing of migrant workers, which started some years back.

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