KSO, ANSAM flay Govt-JCILPS agreement
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Kangpokpi, August 29 2015 :
Kuki Students' Organization GHQ (KSO-GHQ) and All Naga Students' Association Manipur (ANSAM) have refused to welcome the agreement signed between the Government of Manipur and JCILPS.
The two associations also criticized the two Bills - The Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015 and The Manipur Land Revenue & Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2015 which were introduced in the Assembly on Friday.
In a joint press statement, KSO-GHQ General Secretary Seiboi Haokip and ANSAM General Secretary Alexander Huten said that any provision in The Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015 that affects the rights of the Hill people should be removed.
The two tribal student bodies asserted that "The Act cannot be extended to the whole state of Manipur as stated in Sub-Section (2) of Section 1 of the Act" .
Questioning the intention of the Government of Manipur (GoM) in using terms such as "small hill states" to define the State of Manipur as mentioned in the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015, the two student bodies said that there has always been a distinct demarcation between the valley and the hill areas in the administration even before the inception of Manipur State and therefore, the term "hill" should be omitted in the Act.
The statement further pointed out that the hill areas come under the purview of Article 371 C of the Constitution of India and the status quo of the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act, 1960 should be honoured and maintained.
Calling upon all the legislators from the hill areas to stand up and assert the rights of the tribals as empowered by Article 371 C of the Constitution of India, the student bodies also impressed upon all the members of Manipur Legislative Assembly to appreciate the situation of all the communities living in the present State of Manipur.
Meanwhile, the two tribal student bodies also threatened to take up own course of actions if the State Government fails to respond positively to their call while stating that the Government of Manipur will be held responsible for all the consequences.