IMF states stand against 6th Schedule
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, December 16 2012:
Opposing any move to implement Sixth Schedule in the hill areas of Manipur, International Meiteis' Forum has cautioned that no demand should be made or conceded that pose threat to the State's territorial and emotional integrity.
Addressing a press conference at Manipur Press Club here today, Forum's founder member RK Rajendra opined that both the sixth Schedule sop to the Nagas and homeland demand by the kukis are detrimental to interest of the common people.
While it is beyond doubt that the meiteis are the majority community, the recent reported development on Sixth Schedule status for the nagas and homeland demand by the Kukis amount to not only undermining existence of the Meiteis and their history but also suggest that the majority community should remain silent and tolerate all the activities of other communities.
Asserting that the Government of India would be held responsible in case there is any untoward incident arising out of these demands, Rajendra ridiculed inclusion of Manipur's reserved forest land and protected area forests as ancestral land of the Nagas and Kukis.
Forum activist Dr Manoranjan Khuman commenting on the issue maintained that the Naga nomenclature is a recently coined reference for history of Manipur clearly define the other indigenous communities as Tangkhuls, Zeliangrongs and anals etc.
Moreover, the term Kuki came into being only after the occupation of the erstwhile independent kingdom of Manipur, he affirmed.
Highlighting that inspite of the valley areas being the most populated locations 92 percent of manipur's total geographical area are hills, Dr Manoranjan questioned whether the tiny hill-locks adjacent to the valley pockets would also come under the Sixth Schedule provision.
He further suggested that declaration of the entire State of Manipur as a hill state and permitting all the indigenous communities to reside at any place of their choice would facilitate peaceful co-existence of all the communities.