COCOMI, UNC roll up sleeves to tackle illegal immigration
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, June 05 2022: The Coordination Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) and the United Naga Council (UNC) have unanimously resolved to fight the issues of illegal immi-grantion in Manipur collectively.

They also urged Chief Minister N Biren Singh to deport the illegal immigrants settled in Manipur and put in maximum efforts to ensure that no people enter the State illegally.

Notably, COCOMI which was formed in 2019 and UNC, the apex Naga body submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister N Biren Singh yesterday, highlighting the demographic imbalance triggered by influx of migrants.

Speaking to the media at Manipur Press Club today, COCOMI coordinator Longjam Ratankumar said that the committee has been discussing the key issues of Manipur with Naga leaders since the last few years.

COCOMI, UNC roll up sleeves to tackle illegal immigration

Saying that they (UNC and COCOMI) resolved to work together to tackle the threats being posed by illegal migration to the territory, economy and socio-political condition of Manipur, Ratankumar informed that they already have submitted a memorandum regarding the same to the Chief Minister.

According to Ratan-kumar, the memorandum urged the State Government to adopt National Register of Citizens so as to identify the people residing in Manipur unlawfully and evict them, constitute an independent body to collect data of the illegal immigrants before the NRC is adopted so as to initiate necessary actions and establish a State Population Commission.

The memorandum also highlighted the abnormal rise of unrecognised villages in five districts of Manipur viz; Chandel, Tengnoupal, Kangpokpi, Churachandpur and Pherzawl.

Diving deeper, Ratan-kumar said that the number of villages in Chandel increased from 164 in 1950-1969 to 269 in 2011 which included 205 unrecognised villages while Tengnoupal had only 68 villages in 1950-1969 but the same rose to 168 in 2011 (including 130 unrecognised villages) .

The number of villages in Kangpokpi also increased from just 179 in 1950-1969 to as many as 570 villages in 2011 and the figure included 304 unrecognised villages.

Churachandpur and Pherzawl also recorded a sharp rise in the number of villages during the said period.

Churachandpur which had only 282 villages in 1950-1969 witnessed an exponential growth of 547 in 2011 (including 281 unrecognised villages) while the number of villages in Pherzawl increased from 38 in 1950-1969 to 70 in 2011 (including 14 unrecognised ) .

Claiming that emergence of such large number of new villages were not seen in areas largely dominated by the Nagas and the Meeteis, Ratankumar said that the same memorandum will also be submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other Central leaders.

He said that COCOMI and UNC have been monitoring the situation closely though their appearance in the media is quite minimal.

Urging the State Government to stop registering new villages without proper verification but de-recognise the villages which were registered without proper verification by fixing a specific cut off base year, Ratankumar opined that random establishment of new villages is not only a burden to the State exchequer but also robs the rights and benefits of genuine citizens.

Ratankumar said that COCOMI and UNC will work together in the larger interest of the indigenous people and the two bodies will not tolerate any attempt to misrepresent the history of Manipur with concocted narratives.

UNC president Kho John said that the growth of recognised and unrecognised villages as highlighted in the memorandum is quite abnormal.

He said that politicians and prominent personalities might have a hand in the sharp rise of villages in certain districts and the same poses grave threat to the indigenous people and asked if the successive Governments were not aware of this.

Saying that the move of UNC and COCOMI doesn't target any particular community or a group of people, the UNC president expressed confidence that the State Government will consider their demand and do the needful.