Imphal, December 08 2010: Manipuris residing outside India, Wednesday petitioned Prime Minister, Dr Manmohon Singh for removal of the Protected Area Permit (PAP) from the state of Manipur.

The Manipuri Association of Canada (MAC) submitted the online petition to the Prime Minister as part of its global signature campaign in association with Manipuris residing in other countries of the world.

MAC president Rajkumar Singh in an email statement said "We, the Manipuri people and the friends of Manipur from all over the world strongly oppose the restrictions of visit to Manipur by foreigners under the Protected Area Permit (PAP) System imposed on Manipur State by the Government of India.

We find PAP repressive, discriminatory and having potential to severely harm the economy and competitiveness of the state" .

In the online petition to the Prime Minister, he further stated that they are aware that previous proposals from the Chief Minister Manipur, the Minister of Tourism, Manipur and several other interest groups about removal of PAP from Manipur has remained unheeded.

MAC is launching a global online signature campaign for the online petition in this regard considering the problems faced by Manipuris residing outside India.

They are targeting 50,000 signatures across the globe before December 20, he added.

They will send this petition to the Prime Minister of India with copies to Home Minister, External Affairs Minister, Tourism Minister, Minister of Development of North East Region (DoNER), Manipur Chief Minister and other politicians, he added.

PAP has been a problem for Manipuris residing outside the country as they too are covered by it and are restricted from entering their own native state, Manipur.

Mention may be made that recently Manipuris from Bangladesh who are supposed to join the inaugural function of the year long platinum jubilee celebration of Manipuri Sahitya Parishad, Imphal were barred from entering the state due to non-issue of PAP by the Union Home Ministry.

Unable to get the PAP, they had to return back from Tripura's capital Agartala.

The attitude of the Central government hurt the sentiments of the Manipuris settled outside the country who too are restricted from visiting their place of origin, the Manipuri Sahitya Parishad pointed out.

Comment