Tourism minister T.N. Haokip and youth affairs and sports minister N. Biren Sing participated in the campaign launched by the Local Support Group in tandem with an online anti-permit signature campaign by Manipur Association for Canada. The association’s campaign can be accessed on the web at www.gopetition.com.
Under the existing system, foreigners have to obtain protected area permits to enter Manipur. This discourages them from visiting the state, leaving little hope for development of the state’s tourism sector.
After signing the campaign, Haokip said, “It’s time for the system to go. Visa should be given on arrival. Manipur’s future lies in tourism. This system is killing the tourism sector in Manipur,” he said.
He said since 1990, when he was the convener of Northeast Tourism Minister’s Conference, he has been actively involved in the movement against the system. “At that time the Centre had said it was ‘looking into it’. The Centre has been looking into it for 20 years. It’s time to act,” he said.
Supporting the cause, N. Biren Singh said the imposition of the system had further alienated the people of Manipur from mainstream India.
The Local Support Group will also send off a rally from Kangla of Imphal city on December 19 for a mass campaign in all the nine districts of Manipur.
The convener of the group, R.K. Shivachandra, said a memorandum would be submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and home minister P. Chidambaram after December 29 with the demand for lifting the system.
Various citizens’ bodies, including a delegation of the All Manipur Working Journalists Union, had urged the home minister during his recent visit to Manipur to lift the system.
While interacting with people in Churachandpur, Chidambaram had said the Centre had taken some decision on the permit and it would be announced very soon. He, however, had not elaborated on the issue.
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