Migrants to North East fear militant threat

IMPHAL - : The migration of people in search of better opportunities has been an age long tradition. But in Manipur migrants fear being targeted by militants.

Recently, three migrants were killed in separate incidents in the state.

Migrant labourers say they don’t feel safe in Manipur.

On December 16, assailants shot dead Gajinder Ram and Subhas Yadav in their house in Chingmeirong Kabui Khul on the outskirts of Imphal while they were asleep.

Gajinder was a tourist who had come to see his brother. Subhas Yadav was a manual laborer working in an ice candy factory.

On December 15, Deepak Kumar Sahu a hawker, was killed by militants near Pangei.op police officers met to assess the situation arising out of the violence.

“As a preventive measure, the state police has arranged a temporary refugee camp at Dharamsala. From time to time, we have to pick them up from several outskirt locations and kept over there. As they have come for earning, they cannot remain idle at that place. So they returned to their respective place and are coming out for earning for their livelihood,” Mohammad Shahid Khan Sub Inspector, Lamphel Police Station.

The ruthless killing of migrants provoked anger among the people in Manipur. nder the aegis of Chingmeirong Women Society, locals protested the killings. Protestors criticized the killers and demanded justice.

“Even we can go outside the state, like in Delhi and Mumbai to earn our livelihoods. But such incidents are making us wary to even go outside the state,” said Birkumar a local

“We are against killings of any person. Killing of petty laborers who are earning meager salaries won’t bring any solution. We condemn it,” he added.

Since February, 28 migrant workers have been killed in Manipur. Miscreants claim that migrant workers are a burden to the state’s economy, but ignore the fact that many students and people from Manipur study and work in other parts of the country. (ANI)