Hill Tribal Council Moreh (HTC), has rejected the Union Minister of State for External Affairs & Education RK Ranjan Singh’s idea of converting Moreh into a cantonment hub.
The Union Minister had recently urged PM Modi through a representation to convert Moreh, India’s last border town in the Tengnoupal district with Myanmar on the South, into a cantonment cum commercial hub under the Cantonment Act, 2006.
According to HTC, Moreh is a civilian-inhabited border hill town, except for the Meitei who have ‘deserted’ the town while all other Indian communities co-exist peacefully.
“As much as we want development in Moreh, we also equally want and urge the Government of India to act swifter and bring a political settlement to the present political impasse in Manipur”, it added.
It pointed out that the only solution to the problem now lies in the Union Government to arrange and grant for self-determination to the Kuki-Zo admissible under available provisions of the Constitution of India.
HTC went on to claim that the indigenous first settler and owner of the land was the then Chief of Sibong-Sutpong village and with his consent the border town Moreh was established long before the partion of Burma from British India.
It also pointed out that with the passage of time after India’s independence and following the Burmese Government program to drive out foreigners from Burma, people of Indian origin such as Punjabis, Tamils, Biharis, Bengalese, and others came to take shelter in Moreh.
