A missed opportunity
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: March 07, 2024 -

Notwithstanding few hiccups like the inability of the august House to make an official statement regarding the "continued absence" of the 10 MLAs belonging to Kuki-Chin community, all the five MLAs of the opposition Congress party staging walkout after a heated exchange of words with the Speaker over non-admission of a private member resolution regarding the January 24 Kangla Declaration and the allegations of occasional muting of the mics of some vocal members during arguments with the leader of the House, the just concluded 5th session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly was by and large successful in taking up many important issues afflicting the state today.

Despite the short duration of the Assembly which had only five sittings, eight important Government bills, which include "The Manipur Appropriation (No 1) Bill, 2024"; "The Manipur Appropriation (No 2) Bill, 2024"; "The Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Sixth Amendment) Bill, 2023''; "The Manipur Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2024"; "The Manipur Municipalities (11th Amendment) Bill, 2024"; "The Manipur Labour Laws (Exemption from Renewal of Registration and Licence by Establishments) Bill, 2023"; "The Manipur Prevention of Malpractices in High School Leaving Certificate and Higher Secondary Examinations Bill, 2024" and "The Manipur Names of Places Bill, 2024" had been passed and adopted two very significant resolutions urging for abrogation of the controversial Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement signed with the Kuki militant groups and advocating implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for proper identification and deportation of illegal immigrants from the state.

Moreover, unlike in the last Assembly sitting held on August 29, 2023, which concluded within 11 minutes of commencement; this time both the ruling and the opposition benches had shown seriousness and maturity in trying to address a range of issues that are closely tied to the now over 10 months long ethnic conflict between the Meitei/ Meetei and Kuki-Chin communities which broke out on May 3 last year.

With the 5th session of 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly, which was essentially the mandatory budget session before the end of the current fiscal year, coming at a time when the state is passing through a critical stage, it is understandably why most of the agendas taken up for discussion in the House had centred around the current humanitarian crisis in the state.

Some of the members in the Opposition bench had even professed in the House that they were deliberately forgoing the privilege of raising questions related to developmental issues of their respective assembly constituencies as the understanding of root causes and resolution of the current crisis in the state is more important than anything else at the moment.

However, despite facilitating a thorough discussion, both the Opposition and the Treasury benches had missed out on utilising a golden opportunity to address an equally important issue that is even more closely related to the current crisis than any other root causes.

Unchecked influx of illegal immigrants through the porous Indo-Myanmar border threatening the demography of the state and the Kuki-Chin militant groups indulging in illegal activities like poppy cultivation, drug trafficking and gun-running with virtual immunity guaranteed under the SoO pact are very much a reality the whole wide-world has slowly woken up to today.

But how these illegal immigrants have come to gain not just permanent settlement but also citizenship to enjoy all the benefits and privileges that even the native citizens are deprived of is a question whose answer lies in the continuation of hereditary chieftainship among the Kuki-Chin tribes in Manipur, which allows male off-springs of the chief to set up own villages and become chiefs in their own right.

When the practice had already been abolished in other north-eastern states, it is still prevalent in Manipur although the government of India had long ago approved implementation of "The Manipur Hill Areas Acquisition of Chiefs' Rights Act, 1969".

Both the Opposition and Treasury benches should have come together and taken a definite decision to put an end to this practice, which is, perhaps, the one and only root cause of the present crisis. Can anyone think of a leaf moving in Kuki-Chin villages without the knowledge of the chiefs?