Manipur Chief Minister, N Biren Singh along with Rajya Sabha MP Ksh Bhabananda Singh on Saturday met Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh and submitted a memorandum for giving presidential assent to Manipur People’s Protection Bill 2018.
Also read: Keep Manipur out of citizenship bill purview: Biren Singh government
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This was stated in an official release to the media on Saturday.
The Bill which was passed by Manipur Assembly on July 23, 2018 is currently with the Home Ministry after the Governor had forwarded the bill to get the nod of the President of India.
In the meeting, Chief Minister N Biren also urged the Home Minister to protect the rights of the indigenous people of Manipur that might be affected by citizenship bill.
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Rajnath Singh, it is learnt, on his part has assured the Chief Minister that the interests of north-eastern states especially Manipur along with the cultures and customs of its peoples will always be protected and requisite safeguards will be made in this regard.
The memorandum mentioned that population of the State is only about 0.2 per cent of that of the whole India. Manipur has a large number of ethnic groups, each with unique dialects, customary laws and practices. Adequate constitutional protection is considered necessary to protect these small indigenous populations.
The Manipur People’s (Protection) Bill, 2018 was passed by the State Legislative Assembly to protect the interest of indigenous population of the State.
The bill has since been moved to the President of India for getting his assent.
Meanwhile, there is apprehension in the minds of the people of the State that the proposed citizenship bill will not be in the interest of the indigenous people of the State.
There is apprehension also that once the citizenship bill is implemented, the State could be flooded with a large number of illegal immigrants and foreigners from neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Myanmar and so on, as international borders are porous.
Taking into account of all these factors, the memorandum requested the Union Government to give assent to Manipur Peoples’ (Protection) Bill, 2018 and also to exclude the state of Manipur from the jurisdiction of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, the release added.