Joint Protest by Manipuri Students and Migrant Workers against Killings in Manipur
On 21 March, the Manipuri Students’ Association Delhi (MSAD) called for a dharna against the serial killing of Hindi-speaking labourers in Manipur. This dharna was joined by various democratic organisations in Delhi, including students from AISA and the JNUSU, as well as migrant labourers under the banner of CPI(ML). The MSAD leaders who addressed the dharna expressed deep concern at the killings of unarmed wage labourers, and saw these killings as an outcome of the ongoing conflict and denial of rights of the people of Manipur. They charged the Government of India for “relying on military tactics and intensifying the conflict situation,” and called for unity between the struggling people of Manipur and the people of other communities.
CPI(ML) State Committee members Uma Gupta and V K S Gautam, and AISA General Secretary Ravi Rai said that the Congress Government in Manipur headed by Ibobi Singh was already responsible for brutal suppression of the democratic rights and aspirations of the Manipuri people, and now, like its counterpart the Gogoi Government in Assam, was allowing innocent workers from Bihar and other Hindi-speaking states to fall victim to chauvinistic violence. JNUSU Councillor Sucheta De pointed out that in the Congress-ruled national capital of Delhi, women from Manipur and other parts of the North East were at the receiving end of sexual violence, and migrants from the North East faced discrimination even at the hands of the Delhi Police, but neither State nor Central Government were taking any corrective measures. V K S Gautam added that the plight of migrant labourers from Bihar and UP even in Delhi was a shame, where they were systematically denied their rights, basic security and dignity.
The CPI(ML) also burnt the effigy of Ibobi Singh in Patna and other parts of Bihar, and called upon the people of Hindi-speaking states as well as the people of Manipur and the North East to forge a unity and rebuff the divisive forces.
