Zomi Council urges Guv to withhold Bills
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, August 31 2015:
Asserting that the Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015 is against the interest of the tribal people of Manipur as it is intended to uproot the tribal populace from the place of their birth, Zomi Council�apex body of several tribes' organisations, has urged the Governor to withhold his assent to the Bill.
In a memorandum to the Governor, the Zomi Council said that ostensibly the Inner Line Permit system is to control the influx of outsiders into Manipur.
The Bill was introduced in the special session of the Manipur Assembly in respond to the demand of JCILP.
Although ILPS is apparently about outsiders, the hidden agenda is that it is against the native tribal/hill populace of the State.
"Outsiders are never really a threat because they cannot own land in the valley area and never a competitor in the Govt job market.
The tribal people can own land in the valley area and are therefore a threat and a nuisance to the valley people.
Moreover, the valley people want to grab the land of the tribals in the hill areas," the Zomi Council memo pointed out.
It further pointed out that Clause 2 (b) of the Manipur People Bill, 2015 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 collective social, cultural and economic life of Manipur.
It said, this definition of Manipur people has so many implications.
Even if a person's forefathers had been registered in any one or any two of the clause mentioned, one cannot be considered as 'Manipur people.' One needs to fulfil all the three criteria, it said.
Many people would be left out because at that time the Govt machinery or governance had not reached every nook and corner of the State, especially the hill areas and most of the villages were not accessible at that time.
This particular clause is against the provisions of the Citizenship Act of 1955, it said.
It also categorically asked why the cutoff year was made 1951 and not 1971 or 1981 when Manipur had attained Statehood in 1972.If this definition is applied then most of the natives of Manipur at the time when it attained statehood will not be considered Manipur people.
"Also, if the intended targets are outsiders, when did the influx of outsiders in huge numbers start? Maybe in the 1980s or 1990s.Then why 1951 is adopted as the cutoff year," it asked.
ZC also pointed out that the Bill, although defines 'Manipur people,' is silent on the procedure to be adopted for determination of Manipur people.
The Bill creates a new statutory body, Directorate of Registration of non-Manipur persons and tenants.
But there is no appeal against the decisions of the Directorate, it said.
The definition of 'Manipur people' in the Bill also used in other Bills is meant to deny services and facilities to the people of Manipur and it is clear from the MLR&LR (Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2015, it said.
If the ILPS agitation is all about the influx of outsiders, the Statement of Object of the Bill which was introduced in the special session of the Manipur Assembly in pursuance of the ILPS agitation never once mentioned the influx of outsiders, the ZC memo added.
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