Manipur CSO team meets Prime Minister

IMPHAL | Dec 28

The civil society organisations of Manipur had a meeting with the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi today at 11 am regarding the framework agreement.

A memorandum was handed over to the PM in the brief meeting that lasted for around 15 minutes, said a release.  A ‘Leiyum fee’ and a statuette of Kanglasha were presented from the side of the CSOs, it said.

The meeting began with the CSOs clearly stating the reasons why the people are being apprehensive of the Framework Agreement, the release informed. It was relayed in the meeting that even if the Prime Minister himself and leaders at the Centre have expressed that the boundaries of Manipur shall not be compromised, alarming statements that came from different circles and the manner in which the framework agreement has been kept in secrecy have caused all the apprehension, it said.

The Prime Minister in turn asked the CSOs whose words they should believe in, and asserted that they keep faith in the Indian Government, as it has not made any declarations about doing anything yet; it said adding the PM requested the CSOs not to believe in rumours that came from unreliable sources.

The release further said the PM further assured that the only true information will be the declaration made by the centre after making it official by the Indian Government.  The PM expressed that the government is keeping its doors wide open to hear every wish of its people and the appeals should be made timely and appropriately to the concerned authorities, it continued adding there are no reasons why the government should not consider them.  

What can be considered fortunate is that the CSOs found that the PM had been very well informed about Manipur, the release continued. The CSOs reiterated their stand that they will never accept if India takes up any resolutions which will compromise Manipur’s territorial integrity internally from inside the boundaries of Manipur, after giving assurance the territorial integrity will not be compromised, the release maintained. He replied by telling that they should trust the words of the Prime Minister as he was representing the country, similar to the CSOs who were representing the State, it continued.    

The PM was made aware of the fact that the incident of June 18, 2001 will take place again in a much worse and larger scale if the Centre takes steps against the wishes of the people and request were made that they should not allow it to happen again, the release said.   

After listening to all the statements made by the CSOs in the meeting, he gave his assurance that the government of India will not make a hasty resolution without duly considering the wishes of people and everything that relates with the matter, the release further informed.

At the end of the meeting, he expressed that Manipur amongst the NE states, is the most economically underdeveloped and therefore, there is a need for the people of NE to put interest and give more focus towards bringing in progress and development, it said. The PM said development only, will bring in peace and progress to the region, and therefore is the responsibility of all, it further said. The CSOs parted with the PM with his request that they should part happily without keeping doubts in their minds, it added.