Imphal, April 03 2009: The main objective of the People's Democratic Alliance (PDA) is to review the condition of the Naga people and other hill areas in the state of Manipur, declared Mani Charanamei, the sitting Member of Parliament (MP) and candidate of the PDA for the 15th Lok Sabha elections for the Outer Manipur Parliamentary constituency during a campaign meeting of the party at Tamenglong district headquarters Thursday.

He further asserted the tribal people of the state have faced much problems since the Independence of India.

MLAs included Khasim Ruivah, Awangbow, Marung Mokunga, K Raina and others took part in the Tamenglong district campaign tour of the PDA. Addressing a gathering attended by a good number of supporters including many members of legislative assembly (MLAs) from the state, Charanamei stated a win for the party would mean bringing peace and development to the hill areas and called upon the people to choose and vote a candidate that would raise voice for the people of the hill areas.

The tribal people, also known as the indigenous people, deserves to live in their own recognised land, stated the candidate and added it was the priority of the party to make this come true.

Referring to the militant movements in the North Eastern region except for Arunachal Pradesh, Charanamei stated they were all for peace and development of the region.

He, however, opined the right concern person has to be approached with support from the people to achieve the targets.

The candidate also expressed great concerned over the reservation issues of the tribal people in jobs and the lack of new technologies in the hill areas.

Stating that there are about 400 (four-hundred) Scheduled Tribe (ST) students in Manipur University (MU), he questioned their future regarding jobs pointed out further there are just three ST lecturers at the MU out of 150 (one-hundred fifty) lecturers.

The Tribals need to raise their voice to the centre to bring about a change, he stated.

He also opposed the controversial Tipaimukh dam stating it was a destruction of the heritage and historical land of the hill people.

He also informed that he had submitted an objection letter to the higher authority to stop the construction of the dam so as to preserve the indigenous land of the people.

He further called upon the people for a new rule so as to prevent and protect the land of the hill people.

He also expressed great concern over the Restricted Permit Area (RAP) and Inner Permit Line (IPL) which has restricted people from outside the state to visit the beautiful tourist spots of the state and opined for the need to withdraw such 'permits and limits'.

Also addressing the meeting, Gaidon Kamei, general secretary of the PDA pointed out that 16 (sixteen) Prime Ministers, including the present, and 12 (twelve) Presidents of the country have come and gone but that the movement of tribal people was unfortunately still lying on their tables.

He also asserted that the Nagas were not demanding for a separate state but rather a unification of all the Nagas in the hill areas.

Meanwhile, MLA Awangbow maintained that the issues of the hill areas were still lying on the table of the central government as left by Mani Charanamei.

It is for the development of the hill areas and only Charanamei can complete the work, he added.

Comment