Announcement: Please Sign the Petition for Dialogue for Peace in Manipur

Introduction

An initiative by a group, this is a petition to be sent to the Joint Committee on the Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) and the Joint Action Committee against Anti-tribal Bills (JACAB) to have a dialogue to arrive at a mutually agreeable and peaceful solution to the current imbroglio over the ILP System.

To sign the petition, you are requested to visit the Dialogue for Peace in Manipur page at https://www.change.org/p/joint-committee-on-inner-line-permit-system-jcilps-dialogue-for-peace-in-manipur.

Text of the petition

Sir/Ma’am,

We, the undersigned, draw the attention of the valley-based Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) and the hill-based Joint Action Committee against Anti-tribal Bills (JACAATB) and would like to assert that the two committees MUST have to enter into dialogue, in the interest of all the people living in this region and affected by the multi-pronged agitations over the ILP System.

We, as a group, are very concerned about the prevailing situation in Manipur, where the rift and mistrust between the hills and valley populace seem to be growing each day because of the ongoing agitations. If both the committees continue to press for their respective demands, which are difficult to fulfill without going against that of the other party’s, a peaceful solution is impossible.

We have signed this petition with the hope that the spearheading committees, mentioned above and to whom we are desperately appealing to, have a crucial role to play in bringing about a lasting solution that will promote the interest of both the parties and all the communities involved in the ongoing campaigns. Almost everyone in Manipur, regardless of which side they belong to, have suffered from the ongoing protests and agitations and in some corners there are also apprehension of untoward incident on communal lines.

While we are fully aware that this is a complex scenario, more so because of the involvement of few organisations with vested interest alongside political parties, which are trying to gain political mileage, we are hopeful that a mutually agreeable set of demands can be arrived through dialogue and debate between these two committees and this will be an effective starting point for the benefit of all the groups involved herein.

By signing this petition, we also declare that there are also voices which speak of humanity, that there are spaces for reasonable deliberation, that there are neutral and unbiased individuals, and that there are genuine aspirations for peace, love and reconciliation between all the communities living in this region.

Thank you, the JCILPS and the JACAATB for your attention to this petition. We believe we will achieve a solution and if there is any need for help, we will readily lend our hand with only the best intentions.

(Prepared by Devakishor Soraisam, Johnson Rajkumar, Paonam Thoibi, Ringo Pebam and Kapil Arambam)