ITLF states stand, negates COCOMI
Source: The Sangai Express

CCpur, May 03 2023: The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) has made a five-point clarification to state its stand to the organizations and individuals of Manipur regarding the fight of the tribal populace.

It claimed that in the guise of conservation, the Government of Manipur has enacted Bills and passed laws without following procedures established by the Constitution of India under Article 371C and other statutes/laws.

It added that declaring parts of the Scheduled Hill Areas as reserved forest, protected forest, protected sites, wild-life sanctuaries etc without following the procedure established by the Constitution is unconstitutional.

"The declaration of Reserved Forest and Protected Forest was not made with the informed consent of the tribals.

The tribals who are the first stakeholders must first and foremost be made to understand the implications of declaring Reserved Forests or Protected Forests.

The Hill Areas Committee (HAC) has not been consulted regarding these declarations.

This is a breach of the Hill tribals' Constitutional safeguards", it added.

It also claimed that the land holding system of the Zo-ethnic tribals of Manipur which has been prevalent since time immemorial is unique and should be recognised by the Government established after independence and merger of the Manipur State into the Indian Union.

The ITLF also argued that the recent attempt of COCOMI and Government of Manipur "to stereotype a particular community" is nothing but a smear campaign.

Stating that there is no justification for poppy cultivation, it argued that the manner in which the "War on Drugs" campaign has been executed without proper plan and policy and directed towards an entire community is stereotypical and merely an attempt at a media campaign rather than a serious attempt at tackling the root-cause of the problem.

Maintaining that illiterate tribals do not have the capacity to smuggle drugs beyond State borders, it claimed that the market for crude drugs is in the Imphal valley and raised the question of who the real kingpins of the drug trade are.

It added that arbitrary imposition of Reserved Forests, Protected Forests, or wildlife sanctuary on the pretext of 'war on poppy cultivation' is neither justifiable nor acceptable.

Further, on the issue of illegal immigrants/refugees residing in large numbers in the hills of Manipur, ITLF argued that sizeable number of Meitei communities are residing in neighbouring Myanmar, sharing the same culture, religion and/or identity and even lineage with the Meiteis in Imphal valley.

"However, such presence and closeness of the community is not usurped to frame or label the whole of Meitei communities of Imphal as harbouring refugees or illegal Meitei immigrants from Myanmar due to recent incidents as well as economic woes of the community in Myanmar.

The same should not be applied to the tribals of Manipur", it asserted.

The ITLF expressed hope that their statement would act as a wake-up call for all as their agitation is not directed towards any particular community but towards the Government.

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