Naga talks: Manipur Speaker writes to PM over boundary concern

Imphal: Manipur Legislative Assembly Speaker Y Khjemchand Singh on Wednesday addressed a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing his concern over any threat of change in the existing boundary of the state and said that this was totally unacceptable and non-negotiable to the people of the state.

Pointing out to the nine resolutions undertaken in the August house of the state assembly, Singh said that Manipur is “a pluralistic state where multiple ethnic communities have co-existed since time immemorial and hence any threat of change in the existing boundary of the state is deemed unacceptable and non-negotiable for the people of state”.

“Safeguarding the territorial integrity of Manipur along with its rich socio-cultural fabric has been and always be the top priority of the elected representatives of the people of Manipur,” Singh further stated in his letter.

Also Read: Why Manipur women are up in arms over ongoing Naga political talks

Earlier this month, amid reports that Centre has set October 31 as the deadline to conclude the ongoing peace talks with NSCN (IM), some of the leading civil society organisations in Manipur had demanded the government of India that the final solution to the issue must not touch the integrity of Manipur or its territorial boundary.

Earlier in the day on Thursday, protesters in large numbers, mostly women, staged a rally in Imphal protesting against any move to affect the integrity of the geographical territory of Manipur. The protesters also submitted a memorandum to the governor of Manipur against the ongoing Naga peace process.

However, Manipur governor Dr Najma Heptulla has assured the people of the state that the state’s boundary will not be reshaped at any cost.