Testing time for Govt, people : More stormy days ahead ?
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: August 19 2016 -
ILPS Bill or a new Bill to check the entry
and exit of non-local people will be ready
soon. This was the Chief Minister while
addressing the 70th Independence Day
function at the 1st MR Parade ground on
August 15.
Fast forward to August 18 and
a 48 hour bandh has been called to pro-
test the arrest of Khomdram Ratan while
he was taking part in a protest fast at
Keishampat Leimajam Leikai in the dead of
the night on August 17.
Something is
seriously wrong somewhere. The Govern-
ment was acting in line with the wanted
tag it patched onto Khomdram Ratan after
a picture of him taking oath with the flag
of a proscribed organisation went viral on
the social media some time back.
The
important question is what next ? What
will happen after the 48 hours bandh
comes to an end ?
Tough to say what will
happen in the coming days, but the un-
comfortable feeling that more stormy days
are ahead cannot be simply brushed aside.
And this is what is worrying.
From a
movement which is aimed at protecting
the interests of the local people, today it
has taken such a turn that it has the
potential to pitchfork the Government with
the people demanding the enactment of a
legislation to protect the indigenous peo-
ple from the incursion of non-local people
into the State.
This is one side of the
coin, for remember the mortal remains of
the nine people killed at Churachandpur
after the three Bills were passed in the
Assembly on August 31 last year are still
lying in state.
The Government pulled apart in the hills
and now in the valley and obviously Chief
Minister O Ibobi must be a worried man.
Still not clear how the Centre will respond
to the next Bill once it is passed by the
State Assembly.
No one knows this, but
the pitch is already high and the
Churachandpur JAC has already announced
that any Bill that goes against the interest
of the tribals will be opposed tooth and
nail.
Not clear on what the stand of the
Churachandpur JAC is on the Draft Bill
which has already been made public, but
the State Government need to proceed
very carefully.
It is also imperative that
the Government puts its best foot forward
on how to interact with the JCILPS now
that its former convenor has been taken
into custody.
Not an easy task, but then
it is expected of the Government to deal
with all the issues sensitively and wisely.
The coming days will be tough, no doubt
for it is more than clear that the Government will have to contend with both those
who are demanding a Bill to check the
incursion of non-local people into the
State and with those who have made it
clear that no Bill should hurt the interest
of anyone, particularly the hill people. The
next few days will be testing for the
Government as well as for the people
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