Facing eviction and possible deportation, Bangladeshis and Rohingyas went on a rampage in Manipur, protesting the contentious Manipur People’s Protection Bill, 2018, that was recently passed in the State Assembly by the Biren Singh government.

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Police retaliation wounded six protesters even as four cops, including a superintendent of police, were seriously wounded. Section 144 has been clamped on the entire area of Jiribham.

The bill that is in the eye of a storm aims to “protect the identity of indigenous people”. In other words, people who have settled in the State after 1951 will require inner line permits to stay in Manipur and all facilities extended by the government to the indigenous people of the hill state will no longer be provided to them.

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Bangladeshi — and more recently Rohingyas — who have crossed over to India and settled in Manipur will be hit the hardest. No wonder, they formed a Joint Action Committee (JAC) to organise a protest, which was followed by the police crackdown. Their main objection is keeping 1951 as the base year, which will hit them hard.

However, MyNation has learnt that things went out of hand as the protests continued despite restrictions. Sources say further that the agitators, all Bangladeshis by origin, attacked the police after which the police had to retaliate.

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Jiribam is a district that shares its border with Assam. Sources in the Manipur administration say the area has witnessed an unprecedented influx of Bangladeshis over the years. The problem of Rohingyas has aggravated the issue of demographic change, they say.