Nagaland-Manipur Peace Activists’ Meet ends
Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 14
Three contentious bills introduced by the Government of Manipur – The Protection of Manipur People Bill, The Manipur Land Revenue & Land Reforms Bill and The Manipur Shops and Establishments Bill – dominated the morning session of the last day of the Nagaland-Manipur Peace Activists’ Meet held here at Life Spring Corner from May 13 to 14.
Peace activists from Manipur deliberating on “Issues from Manipur” were divided into four groups representing the Meiteis, Naga women, NGOs and mission workers.
The Naga women group termed the three bills as “anti tribal” since they were passed in the Manipur Assembly without the consent of the tribal people or Hills Area Committee and therefore a violation of Article 371 (C) of the Constitution.
A tribal representative from a church based organization said the issue of implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the Protection of Manipur Peoples’ Bill and as insisted by the valley based Joint Action Committee (JAC) has created tension between the Meiteis and the tribals. Had the JAC consulted the tribal people, then the issue would not have gone thus far, the representative observed.
He said there is lot at stake for the tribal people since the Hills districts (tribal land) cover 90% of Manipur’s total area though the tribals have only 20 representatives in the 60-member Manipur assembly.
The representative also pointed out to a clause in the Protection of Manipur Peoples’ Bill which mentions 1951 as the cut-off year for a person to be called as indigenous inhabitant of Manipur. He said many tribals would be deprived of indigenous claim if the cut-off year was implemented since in the early 1950’s, most of the tribals were uneducated and ignorant of census exercise and still many were apprehensive of giving details during those troubled times. “Why go back to 1951 when Manipur itself attained statehood only in 1973,” another representative added.
The tribal groups also expressed concern that under sections 14 (A) and 14 (B) of the Manipur Land Revenue & Land Reforms Bill, even non-Manipuris or non-tribals can purchase or be allotted tribal land. They pointed out to the two types of land holdings in the state, the “revenue land” of Imphal valley district and “reserved land” of Hills district where land ownership remains with the people.
The Meitei group said the difference between the valley and hill peoples on the three bills is one of “misunderstanding and misinterpretation.”
The group maintained that of the three bills, only the third bill is new and cited the case of Manipur Land Revenue & Land Reforms Bill, which the group maintained was passed by the Indian Parliament in 1960, before Manipur attained statehood. The valley people are only insisting on what was passed by Parliament, a representative of the group said.
The representative also raised doubts whether some groups in the Hill districts have used the opposition to the bills as an “opportunistic movement,” especially against the backdrop of the “Peace Agreement.” He also said the resignation of the NPF MLAs from Manipur Assembly has made the issue more volatile.
He however admitted that the people pushing the bills should be more liberal and said the 1951 cut-off year should be changed to a later date, say 2016. Another representative from the valley group also admitted to “flaws” in the bills and said some interest groups might be working to push the bills in a hurry. Peace activist from Dimapur, Ahidur Rahman, chaired the session.
