Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, August 12 2010:
A meeting of the members of the Hill Areas Committee of the Manipur Legislative Assembly held today resolved to invite Committee on Protection of Tribal Areas, Manipur (COPTAM) on August 16 next to hold talks with the government.
In the meantime, the deadline set by the COPTAM to fulfill their demands with regard to the rectification of the overlapping of district boundaries in census operations ended today.
The committee had set the deadline for the government address their demands during a rally on August 10 .
The meeting of the HAC held at the committee room of the Assembly secretariat at 11 am resolved to invite leaders of the COPTAM to hold talks with the government on the matter on August 16, Chairman of the committee, Thangminlen Kipgen said after the meeting.
The decision to invite them has been intimated to the Chief Minister and Governor, he added.
Mention may be made that rallies carried out on August 10 in six places of the hill districts had demanded de-linking of revenue collection from Census Operation and district boundary demarcation, immediate conduct of Census for overlapping villages to be carried out by concerned hill districts as was done till 2001 Census among others.
They also demanded maintaining of land records in the respective hill districts and collection of land revenues thereof by the concerned hill districts and initiation of constitutional protection of Manipur tribal areas as was done in all tribal areas of North-East India in the memorandum submitted to the government setting deadline on August 12 (today).
While setting the deadline, the committee also warned of launching intensified but democratic forms of agitation if the government failed to address their demands.