Tribal land system older than Govt: ZCA
Source: Chronicle News Service
CCpur, July 12 2021:
The recent assertion by chief minister N Biren Singh that all the land belong to the state has been strongly refuted by the various civil society organisations (CSO) and more vehemently by Zomi Chiefs' Association (ZCA) .
In a statement, ZCA said that the statement made CM Biren lacks historical astuteness and political sensitivity.
Manipur being a state has been understood as coalesce of communities and amalgamation of their territories.
The hill areas of Manipur had been separately administered since time immemorial.
When Manipur was merged with Indian Union, land belonging to the hill people never merged and the hill people never gave up their rights over their land.
Even in the Indian Union, hills have been separately administered by Article 371(C) and there exist different laws for the hills and valley of Manipur.
The ZCA statement issued jointly by its president Th Pumzadou and secretary Khamkhohau further said that CM Biren's claim that all lands in the state belong to the government was against the Constitution and an insult to the ancestral tribal administration of chieftainship land holding system which is much older the government Biren represents.
While asserting that any desire to talk about land and its ownership particularly in hill areas of Manipur should begin with well-informed history and correct interpretation of laws governing it, the ZCA statement said that the government should respect traditional land holding and transfer system of the tribal people in the hill areas as regulated under by Article 371(C) in order to maintain the delicate communal equilibrium of the state.