CCpur JAC questions 1951 base year
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network

Imphal, July 19 2018: The Joint Action Committee Against Anti Tribal Bills (JAC-AATB) has cautioned the Government of Manipur to respect the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on May 10, 2017 in letter and spirit and questioned the 1951 base year as envisaged by the Govt since 1951 NRC is not available.

The JAC-AATB said that it has been closely observing the outcome of the consultative meetings between the Chief Minister of Manipur, the Bill Drafting Committee, the JCILPS and tribal civil society organisations over the introduction of a new Bill relating to the regulation of "non-Manipur people" .

While the JAC-AATB said it endorses the suggestions made by various tribal leaders in the interest of the tribal community of Manipur, "however, the JAC-AATB has come to learn that the JCILPS and the State Government have been willfully ignoring the thoughtful suggestions made by tribal leaders, thereby rendering the number of consultative meetings meaningless" .

The JAC-AATB stated that since the draft Bill is to be tabled in the coming State Assembly commencing on July 20, 2018 it called an emergency meeting today and resolved to declare that, "the two pending Bills i.e.The Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2015 and The Manipur Shops and Establishment (Second Amendment) Hill, 2015 should be withdrawn before any new Bill relating to the regulation or non-Manipur people is introduced" .

The JAC-AATB said, "According to the response given by MHA, office of the Registrar General, India (Social Studies Division) dated 4th July, 2018 over me the RTI made by Mr..KZou, the year 1951 cannot be the base year to determine Manipur since NRC 1951 is not available and the present Manipur State was not formed until 1972" .

The JAC then demanded that all the hill district boundaries prior to 1951 should be reinstated as it were.

According to the JAC-AATB, Sec.

3 (3) of the Draft Bill states the appointment at the Deputy Commissioner office of each district as registering authority for the purpose of supervision and registration of non-Manipur people.

"This section nullifies the meagre power exercised by the Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) against the spirit or Article 371 of the Constitution of India which is unacceptable and should be replaced with appropriate suggestions made during the consultative meetings," the JAC-AATB added.

The JAC-AATB stated that the purpose of consulting all stake holders without considering their suggestions cannot be deemed a consultative meeting.

"It may be prudent on the part of the Government to defer holding such meetings until they are committed to take consultations more seriously," it stated.

The JAC-AATB asked the Government not to table any new Bill until the above mentioned concerns of the tribal community in Manipur are addressed.

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