Declare us tribal, say Meiteis
Imphal, April 18 (IANS): The demand by Meiteis to be declared a Scheduled Tribe is gaining strength in Manipur. But the already existing tribes are not pleased.
The Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee (STDC) is planning a mass demonstration on May 22 in a bid to force the government to accept the community's demand.
But the tribes in Manipur feel this is an attempt to corner the government jobs and other facilities by the Meiteis who are educationally advanced.
The campaign comes at a time when the tribes in Manipur are protesting against the three "anti-tribal" bills passed by the Manipur assembly on August 31, 2015.
Repeated clarifications from Chief Minister Okram Ibobi and others that there was nothing anti-tribal in the bills and they were meant to protect the indigenous peoples have fallen on deaf ears.
S. Robindro, coordinator of the STDC, said: "The demand is to include the Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe list under the provisions of Article 342(1) of the Constitution. We are carrying on an awareness campaign."
The STDC feels that once the differences between the tribals and non-tribals were removed in Manipur, all communities in the state would live in peace. The total area of Manipur is 22,327 sq km. The Meiteis are the majority community. The government has not made public the community-wise break-up of the 2011 census.
Mixed response to bandh call in Tripura, five injured
Agartala, April 18 (IANS): A 24-hour shutdown call given by the opposition Congress on Monday over former health minister Bimal Sinha's assassination 18 years ago evoked mixed response in Left-ruled Tripura. Five supporters of the Congress and CPI-M sustained injuries in Kamalpur in northern Tripura in scuffles. Police later dispersed the mob. The Bandh call was given to press for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into Sinha's assassination and seeking resignation of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar. The State government has already rejected both demands. There was a mixed response to the shutdown call, with attendance in some government offices being thin but little enthusiasm to the call evinced at various markets. The bandh supporters vandalised some vehicles and auto-rickshaws.
NE students from Delhi University call on DoNER Minister
Kohima, April 18 (MExN): A group of Northeast students from Delhi University had an informal interaction over a wide range of issues of their concern when they called upon the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr Jitendra Singh in New Delhi on April 17. The students were led by Hashokmi Kamkara, President of “Northeast Students' Society Delhi University”. According to a Press Information Bureau (PIB) press release, Dr Jitendra Singh, during the interaction, informed the students that in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), the Ministry had already acquired a piece of land in the campus and after some delay on account of Forest Department clearance from Delhi Administration, the land is now ready to be used for a Northeast hostel. Similarly, Minister also told the students that the DoNER Ministry had written to Vice-Chancellor, University of Delhi to identify a piece of land where a hostel could be brought up to accommodate Northeast students studying in different colleges affiliated with Delhi University. The DoNER Minister, responding to another suggestion by students, also assured that he would take of the issue of earmarking certain priority accommodation in Guest Houses of NE States for the needy patients or poor students coming to Delhi for different exams with the respective Resident Commissioners (RCs).
Manipur CM invites insurgents for talks
Imphal, April 18 (IANS): Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh on Monday invited all insurgent groups to the negotiation table to chalk out a peaceful solution. "The government has been striving for a peaceful solution to the armed movement since it believes that all problems could be solved. A body without problems is like a dead person," Okram Ibobi said at a function on "Art of Living and Meditation" held at the Bhagyachandra Open Air Theatre in Imphal. During the Okram Ibobi government in Manipur, agreements on suspension of operations have been signed with over 20 insurgent groups. Although the first such signing took place in May 2005, the union government is yet to bring these former insurgents to the negotiation table. Okram Ibobi had lifted the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from seven assembly segments in the Imphal municipal areas on August 12, 2004 on experimental basis. The outfits which responded had nothing good to say about Okram Ibobi's Monday offer. One group said it was only prepared to talk about independence.
