Imphal, August 30: Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh has appealed to all sections of society in Manipur not to call bandhs or blockades to air their grievances as it sometimes led to unwanted violent incidents and has urged them to instead adopt other forms of democratic agitation.
The Chief Minister told the DIPR before leaving for New Delhi today that the Manipur Government and the Union Government are committed to fulfilling the aspirations of the people of Manipur. Therefore, calling a bandh will not serve any purpose and will instead create more hardship to the people, he added.
He appreciated the role played by the leaders of the 14 CSOs and the delegation of MLAs who recently campaigned in New Delhi for the implementation of NRC in the state by meeting the central leaders and the officials. Their campaign has yielded a positive response in New Delhi, he said.
Khemchand Singh said that during a bandh, the main sufferers are daily wage earners and students. He said that women vegetable vendors suffer a lot during a bandh as they earn their livelihood by selling their farm products daily, and any disruption in their work causes immense hardship to their families.
He said that students also suffer a lot as their normal academic atmosphere gets disrupted by bandhs. Saying that students are the future pillars of society, he appealed to all stakeholders not to disrupt the academic calendar in the state.
The Chief Minister also warned any agitators who break the law attempting to create a chaotic situation of stringent action.
Khemchand Singh said that he was travelling to New Delhi to meet top central leaders and discuss various ongoing issues of the state.
The Chief Minister said that after more than three years, the road transport service between Imphal, Dimapur, and Guwahati has resumed without any trouble. The Imphal-Dimapur-Guwahati bus service will surely ease the burden of poor people who had to buy costly airfares from Imphal to Guwahati.
