SILCHAR, Dec 21 - In a bid to intensify the demand for a Manipuri Autonomous Council in Assam, over 4,000 people, representing 15 Manipuri organisations, responded to the call given by the All Assam Manipuri Youth Association (AAMYA) with support from the Manipuri National Council, took part in a huge rally brought out here on Monday.
The rally that started from Manipuri Para in Itkhola marched through some of the important locations of the town before the members handed over a memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, through the Cachar Deputy Commissioner, underling the need for the council.
Singhajit Singh, working president of the Manipuri National Council, while talking to The Assam Tribune, said, �Around six lakh indigenous Manipuri-speaking people are living in the State with a sense of belonging � neglected and deprived politically, socially and economically. We are also deprived from having our elected representative as an MP or an MLA to speak for us about our legitimate needs, which is unfortunate.�
�When the government can grant autonomous council status to Moran, Matak and Koch Rajbongshi communities in the State, what is stopping it from responding to our legitimate demands?� he said.
Singh, along with MNC vice president Joy Kumar Singh, MNC general secretary LI Singh, and AAMYA chief advisor Kundan Singh, mentioned that while an autonomous council is the only way to address the problems being faced by the Manipuri people in Assam, the government has failed to respond to the appeals made by AAMYA, including the pleas made before the President of India and also to the Prime Minister on earlier occasions.
�If the government fails to respond to our demand for an autonomous council before the ensuing 2021 Assembly elections, we shall intensify our protests,� the MNC working president asserted.