Chief Minister points finger at illegal immigrants, again

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Feb 3: Rampant and uncontrolled influx of illegal immigrants through porous borders led to an astronomical surge of new villages of a community and the number of their elected representatives to 10 from just 6 in 1971-1972, said Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
He said this while inaugurating an Open Gym and an Art and Culture building inside Manipur University campus at Canchipur.
During the programme, the CM also laid the foundation for a 33/11 KV sub- station and a University pool.
At the University's auditorium, he spoke at length about the current conflict.
"The State was left without fences along the Indo-Myanmar border for a long time and it led to uncontrolled and continued influx of illegal immigrants. This led to an increase of 900 new villages and subsequently the number of their MLAs from 6 in 1971-1972 to 10," N Biren said, apparently hinting at cross border infiltration of Kukis from Myanmar into Manipur.
He said the violence on May 3, 2023 started from Churachandpur when he was attending a programme in the presence of the Vice President of India.
During the said programme on May 3, 2023, the CM said he gave instructions to the DGP to go to Churachandpur to control the violence.
The CM added that he wants to hold an interaction programme with intellectuals, teachers of the University and students on the Manipur crisis to understand the "core issues" and resolve it.
He said, many who had initially criticised him on social media are now praising "Chief Minister Biren's deeds" after watching videos on the causes of the crisis--"poppy drug, non-recog- nised villages and other issues".
"Now is time for struggle. During this time, many unwanted things are happening. We must put in all efforts for this struggle to win," N Biren said.
"The Government is taking steps to fence the border. There are some who are opposing it. We all know who they are and why they are opposing it. Illegal immigrants do not want border fencing," N Biren said.
Keeping the border open will be detrimental for the indigenous communities. There were no border fences for a long time and it led to a surge of 900 new villages, he said.
"The massive influx of illegal immigrants affected the State's demography. The group which had only 6 MLAs in 1971-72 now has 10 MLAs. These people don't want the border to be fenced," Biren said.
Due attention must be given to efforts to protect and safeguard the vulnerable indigenous population, he added.
He further identified "appeasement policies" in early days as the cause for the increasing number of outsiders and their growing influence.
The number of outsiders has grown and they are now in control of the Highways and bureaucrats. Intellectuals from University level should forward and educate people regarding these issues, N Biren said.
"We are children and grandchildren of our forefathers who excelled in different fields. We must remember that we are the owner of this land and act accordingly," N Biren said.
People must act together to face the crisis of illegal immigrants' influx, he said.
"Let us not stop our struggle until the border is fenced, illegal immigrants are deported, the Free Movement Regime is regulated and the drugs are curbed. Let us not compromise with any of these. If this struggle is not carried Constitutionally and politically, there will be no future left," N Biren said.
He advised students to use the open gym and live healthy.
Power Minister Thongam Biswajit, Education Minister Th Basanta Kumar, MLA S Kunjakeshwar, MLA Karam Shyam and Manipur University Vice Chancellor Pro- fessor N Lokendra among others attended the event.