GLF denounces Bills; demands withdrawal of Bills
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, September 26 2015 : The Global Liangmai Forum (GLF) has denounced the PMP Bill, 2015, MLR and LR (7th Amendment) Bill, 2015 and the Manipur Shops and Establishments (2nd Amendment), Bill, 2015 passed by the Manipur Legislative Assembly on August 31 on the pretext of introducing the Inner Line Permit (ILP) System in Manipur.

In a statement, GLF said that time and again the Government of Manipur has tried to mislead the tribals by clarifying that the bills will not affect the tribals of Manipur accusing the tribals of being misinformed by rumours and that the bills should be read section by section, etc as if there is nothing wrong with these Bills.

GLF pointed out that as per the special provision of article 371C of the constitution of India, the Hill Areas Committee (HAC) comprising of the MLAs from the Hill areas of Manipur is constituted by the President of India and it is empowered to deliberate on legislative proposals especially related to scheduled matters including the allotment, occupation or use or the setting apart of land, forest, the constitution and functioning of the district council and village committee or councils, social customs, development and economic planning, inheritance of property, etc and to monitor the law making and administration of the hill areas.

However, the Bills which clearly impinge upon these scheduled matters were not referred to the HAC for its consideration and report to the Assembly as per the Rules 159 and 160 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Manipur Assembly on the pretext that these bills are Money Bills.

The Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015 clearly defines "Manipur People" as persons of Manipur whose names are in the National Register of Citizens, 1951, Census Report of 1951 and Village Directory of 1951 and their descendants who have contributed to the collective Social, cultural and economic life of Manipur.

The criteria for defining Manipur people are highly objectionable because Manipur as a state was created only in 1972.Leave alone in 1951, till now the reach of the administration in the hill areas is still negligible in some of the remote areas where there is no road or electricity.

In the absence of clearly maintained records, the tribals will easily become non-Manipur people going by these criteria for defining Manipur people.

Though the bill under section 8 (a) mentions "native people" of the state of Manipur, it remains unclear as to what and to whom it refers to and it looks like it is a clever ploy to create smokescreen so as to fool the tribals that they will not be affected.

Far from the claims and justifications that the hill areas will not be affected in any negative manner, the Bill clearly states that Manipur is one of the hill states of the North-Eastern region of India.

Section 1 clause (2) categorically states that it shall extend to the whole state of Manipur, it said.

Unless the definition of Manipur is limited to mean only the valley areas, the argument that the bill will not affect the hill area does not hold water.

It must be noted here that Sub-clause (2) of article 371C states that "the president alone has, by order, the power to declare the area as hill area".

The government of Manipur cannot, by any order or act, annul the order of the president and cede the hill areas to be under the jurisdiction of the valley areas' administration.

However, in the name of introducing ILP system, the Government of Manipur has passed The Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (7th amendment) Bill, 2015 as a ploy to grab the tribal lands in the Hill areas.

The proposed 7th Amendment of MLR & LR Act, bill, 2015 has deceitfully inserted the words "valley areas" which were not there in the Principal Act, 1960 under section 158 relating to special provision for protection of the tribal lands in the hills and the power of the HAC and the district council to allot or not to allot lands in the hill districts has been nullified by inserting sections 14A and 14B to section 14 of the principal Act, 1960 .

This leaves the ADCs under Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council Act, 1971 toothless and overruled.

The proposed MLR & LR (7th Amendment Bill), 2015 will enable anyone who qualifies as Manipur People including non-tribals to buy lands in the hill areas by circumventing the district councils in the tribal areas subject to the approval of the State cabinet which is a gross violation of the provision of Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council Act, 1971 .

The clarification given by the Chief Minister's Secretariat, Government of Manipur that the definition of "Manipur People" under section 2 (b) is intended only for outsiders/non-Manipur Persons and the Bill being titled as, "The Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015" seems as if it is meant to protect and serves the interest of only a single valley-based majority community of Manipur and not the indigenous tribals of the State.

GLF also condemned the merciless killing of 9 defenseless tribal protesters in Churachanpur district, Manipur by the State machinery of Manipur.

The forum also demanded that three anti-tribal bills be repealed immediately and that the powers and functions of the HAC be reinstated.

The State Government should also give justice to the 9 departed souls who died as martyrs for all the tribal people of Manipur.

It also demanded that the tribal legislators who had signed and approved the Bills should immediately step down from the membership of the Legislative Assembly of Manipur as they have failed so miserably to carry out their responsibilities of safeguarding the rights and aspirations of the people who voted them to become the members of the Legislative Assembly.

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