Agenda before the Drafting Committee on ILP, Manipur
- Part 2 -

Dr. Khomdon Lisam *

ILP : Meeyamgi Meefam - Public Convention at Iboyaima Shumang Leela Shanglen on July 23 2015 :: Pix - Shankar Khangembam

Why the State Government is so afraid to pass a Bill for protection of indigenous people

(1) the outside migrant workers are their vote banks . Almost all the MLAs are busy and competing between prospective candidates to add 300-500 new outside migrants every year in the electoral roll of their respective constituencies, This is happening not only in Jiribam, Senapati, Chandel but also in Wangkhei, Uripok, Sagolband and many other constituencies. The Chief Electoral Officer is helplessly observing these process without doing anything. The MLAs will never do anything to delete the names of migrant workers from the electoral roll of Manipur.

(2) they are afraid that the Governor or the President of India may not give assent to the Bill

(3) they are also afraid that their bill /Act may be struck down by the supreme court.

The State Government invited the JCILPS for a dialogue and also for joining the Drafting Committee. But the JCILPS put three conditions for holding a dialogue with the state Government.

3 conditions to hold a dialogue with the govt ( iboyaima sanglen -23-07-2015)

1 Govt. to take up concrete actions for passing the bill within 15 august, 2015
2. Govt to give assurance for incorporating 5 points submitted earlier
3. All police personnel responsible for killing a student Sapam Robinhood should be suspended before initiating Judicial Enquiry

The state Government gave verbal assurances but not written assurances. The JCILPS does not agree to have a dialogue unless the assurances are given in writing.

A Five member Drafting committee has been formed

A five member Drafting Committee on ILP has been formed with Shri Th. Debendra Singh, Hon'ble Minister ( Law and Legislative Affaires) as the chairman. The other members are Dr Ng Bijoy Singh , N Biren Singh and RK Anand. Once RK Anand , Hon'ble MLA pledged "I'll choose not to compromise with the ruling Government or any other Government on the ILP issue,". Dr. Ng. Bijoy Singh is a man of high integrity, well known to the people. Shri N. Biren Singh is a man of words with determination and courage. We therefore welcome the Drafting Committee.

But the people are asking why the State Government is playing politics with this sensitive issue . Why the membership of the Drafting Committee is confined only to the congress party, The State Government should include one MLA from each opposition party like ALL India Trinamool Congress, NCP. They should also include the president or the General Secretary of BJP, CPI as they will play an important role in influencing national political leaders,, the Home Minister, the Prime Minister and the President, The Chief Minister and the Chairman of the Drafting committee said that all the points according to the wishes of the people will be incorporated in the New Bill whereas some members of the Committee said the Bill should be acceptable to the Governor and the President of India.

The voice of the people is the voice of God. At this juncture , we need not worry too much about Indian Constitution. The Indian Constitution is not Gita or Bible or Quran, It can be amended to avert the extinction of Manipuris. We are minority among the minorities in India. We formed hardly 0.02% of India's population.. We can ask the Governor and the President of India " will you allow Indian Constitution of India to hasten the extinction of Manipuris from the surface of the earth within a short time.".as happended in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. "Do we not have the right to constitutional safeguards to protect the Manipuris from extinction ".

We have woken up after a deep slumber for 65 years.. We will not rest till the constitutional safeguards is given to us to protect us from reducing to minority in our own land as happened in Tripura. Manipur has a proud history of more than 2000 years. Manipur had a written constitution before India wrote one. Manipur became a democratic country before India achieved democracy in 1950. In 1963, Nagaland was raised from a village republic to statehood whereas Manipur was reduced to the category of Union Territory which heralded insurgency problem in Manipur. The article 371C is found extremely discriminatory against the Manipuris which leads to loss of trust between different ethnic communities leading to communal conflicts in Manipur. The solution lies in the overall amendment of Indian Constitution to bring equality, communal harmony, unity, peace and development in Manipur.

India a peculiar democratic country having two constitutions, two flags and a highly controversial map. There are special provisions under the Indian Constitutions for different states.

Foremost things to be done by the Drafting Committee

1. Consultation with one recognized Constitutional Expert- Since the matter is purely constitutional matter, it will be appropriate for the Drafting Committee to consult one recognised Constitutional Expert like Ram Jetmalani or Harish Salve or Dr. Subhash, or C. Kashyap or Madhav Khosla etc to guide the drafting committee . The selection and appointment of the constitutional expert may be done only after knowing his perception about the Manipuris and the objectives of the proposed Bill.

The Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the President of India will respect their opinions. Three questions can be put to the Constitutional Expert (1) whether the state legislature can adopt any law implemented in any other state? Can Manipur Legislative Assembly adopt the implementation of Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation -1873, which is in force in Arunachal, Nagaland, Mizoram. without referring to the Central Government (2) can we insert the Cut off Base year -1951.in the proposed Bill.

Following the insertion of Base year of 1951, can Manipur Legislature insert provisions for deletion of the names of Non-Manipuris who entered Manipur after 1951 from the Electoral Rolls ? Can Manipur Legislature insert provisions for banning the Non-Manipuris from joining Government jobs, competitive examinations or professional courses ? Can the State Legislature insert a clause permitting the non-Manipuris to establish business only in the name of some local persons.

(3) What possible options remains if the President of India rejects the Bill ?

Under any circumstances, His Excellency the Governor of Manipur is likely to refer the matter to the President of India. The Manipur Legislature and the JCILPS may seriously formulate strategies to initiate actions in the event of rejection of the Bill by the President . It may include advocating , lobbying and influencing the national political party leaders of important national parties like BJP, Indian National Congress, All India Trinamool Congresss, CPI , NCP and important MPs for amendment of Indian Constitution not only to protect the indigenous people but also to bring equality, communal harmony, peace and development in Manipur. The rejection of the Bill by the President of India as an opportunity for us to plead for constitutional amendment . What we require is our own unity.

History has shown clearly that The Government of India had committed a series of blunders against Manipur, which are the beyond the scope of International law during 1947-1950.We may refer to the statement of G.K. Pillai, former Union Home Secretary, which was published on 27 September, 2011 in the Telegraph newspaper -"we have to build trust by dealing with the core issues. An apology, say by the Prime Minister or the Home Minister, for the past mistakes could be a start"

The possible areas where constitution may be amended have been mentioned in my previous articles which has been published in prominent English Newspapers in Manipur on 20-21 July, 2015 under the caption " What to do if the Governor refers the New Bill on ILP to the President of India. We should be ready to continue a more extensive, more intensive, more effective and a wider people's mass movement including non- cooperation, civil disobedience movement when the time comes.

To be continued...