IMPHAL, July 20 - Life came to a grinding halt here once again on Monday owing to a call by the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) to suspend all forms of activities to intensify the ongoing agitation demanding implementation of a visitors� regulation system or ILP (Inner Line Permit) system to regulate influx of outsiders into Manipur.
On Monday, busy market places in greater Imphal area wore a desolate look since dawn to dusk as people including shop keepers, vendors, employees and even the passenger services suspended their usual activities for the day. Sit-in demonstrations were staged and human chains formed at various localities demanding implementation of ILP system.
JCILPS, a conglomerate of 40 civil society organisations has been demanding enforcement of ILP system as in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram and to monitor the influx of outsiders, which has posed a serious threat to the existence of the indigenous people.
JCILPS in a release claimed that the combined population of hill and plain people is just around 18/19 lakhs while non-locals including those from Myanmar, Nepal and Bangladesh make up more than 10 lakh out of the State�s reported total population of 28 lakh. This is an alarming situation as outsiders have already outnumbered Tripuris in Tripura, the release said.
