IMPHAL, Sept 6: The 12-hour Northeast shutdown call given by the Northeast Students’ Organisation (NESO) evoked a near total response as normal life in Manipur was hit by the strike on Thursday.
The shutdown was imposed by NESO to protest against the continue discrimination to the North Easterners in the mainland India.
In Manipur, the All Manipur Students’ Union, a constituent of NESO spearheading the strike in the state enforced it by blocking roads and burning tyres in different areas of the state.
Bandh supporters, mostly AMSU volunteers blocked roads and burnt tyres at places like Singjamei, Kakwa, Sagolband Uripok, Nagamapal and Thangmeiband in Imphal which were totally affected by the 12-hour bandh imposed in protest against racial profiling of the Northeast people residing in different parts of mainland India.
Vehicular movement in the Imphal city was brought to a grinding halt. All the Government establishments remained closed during the course of the bandh which started at 5 a.m. and ended at 5 p.m. All the markets were shutdown and educational institutions were also closed. All the financial institutions including private banks were also paralysed due to the strike.
However, the NESO relaxed essential services including medical related activities, media, religious ceremonies and occasions during the shutdown.
In protest against the discrimination of North Easterners in the mainland India and also demanding the deportation of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants from the region, the 12-hour bandh of North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) in the states of the region on Thursday affected normal life.
Except for Assam and Tripura, the 12-hour NESO sponsored bandh was strong in Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram.
In Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, business establishments were closed and educational institutions did not operate. However, thin traffics were witnessed. In Tripura, the bandh was partial.
Meanwhile, shouting slogans such as “Bangladeshis go back, “Deport Bangladeshis”, “Save the North East region,” “Update the National Register of Citizens,” “Implement all clauses of the Assam Accord,” “Stop discriminating the people of the North East”, around 30 thousand people led by NESO leaders took out a rally from Latasil of Guwahati today at around 11 am.
Student leaders from the region who conglomerated at Latasil gave fiery speeches asking from the state governments as well as the Central government to formulate effective mechanism to “save the Northeast region” from foreigners.
Representing the Northeast MPs Forum, Birendra Prasad Baishya, a Rajya Sabha MP advocated for the prevention of foreigners influx into the region. He said illegal immigration should be stopped immediately. Birendra Prasad Baishya also said the influx of foreigners into the region has threatened the very existence of the North East people and their lands.
“Given the seriousness of the influx, we have been raising it all along in the Parliament. We all must have to save Assam to save the north-east,” Baishya stated.
Fuming over the failure by the successive governments both in Assam and at New Delhi to implement fully the Assam Accord of 1985, NESO leader Samujjal Bhattacharya said unless the Accord if implemented successfully, problems will persist.
Seeing the mammoth turn-out of today rally, the NESO leader said that the peoples response to today’s protest rally indicated that “we are concerned about the situation” where foreigners are overshadowing the indigenous people.
Samujjal also said that the continuing influx of foreigners into the region is a threat to the integrity of India.
On August 23 in Guwahati, issues on the illegal immigrants in the north east region, the prolonging fencing process of the government of India along the Indo-Bangla border and a policy to ensure the safety of the north east people in the mainland India were disccused in the NESO meeting.
The NESO units from all the North Eastern states participated in that meeting where they had deliberated that the government of India should ensure to check the influx of foreigners illegally in the north east region. The need to have a comprehensive policy to detect and deport the illegal immigrants from the north east region should be made by the government of India was also stressed in the meeting.
The NESO leaders had also pointed out the prolonging period to complete the fencing work in the Indo-Bangla border when the same could be done in the Indo-Pakistan border within a short period. “There are so many porous areas in the Indo Bangla border which have been serving as gate-ways for illegal immigrants,” one of the NESO functionary had said.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/12-hour-bandh-disrupts-life-in-ne/
