JAC gears up to mark 100th day of stir
Source: The Sangai Express
CCpur, December 05 2015 :
The JAC against anti-tribal Bills has today convened a joint con-sultative meeting with Church and tribal leaders from across the State even as it gears up to observe the 100th day of their agitation across all tribal inhabited areas.
"To mark the 100th day of agitation against the act of injustice meted out to the tribal community and insensitivity of the Manipur Government towards the mortal remains of the nine tribal martyrs, and for the decades of prejudice and indifference of the Manipur Government towards the plight of the tribal people, a mass prayer will be held at the Lamka Public ground on December 9 as a time to thank the Almighty for having led us thus far, and also as a time to humble ourselves while seeking the Lord's forgiveness for any misdeeds, and cry out for His help and heal our land," said a resolution of the consultative meeting.
An appeal should also be made to all the tribal brothers and sisters across India and the world to organise similar mass prayer wherever they are to show their support for the tribal movement, it added.
The public unrest here, it may be recalled has garnered innumerable support from tribal communities in India and abroad and the JAC is believed to have capitalised on them as it planned to observed the 100th day of its agitation.
To show solidarity and respect for the supreme sacrifices made by the nine 'tribal martyrs,' the JAC has made an open appeal to all the tribal people to light candles outside their respective homes between 6 PM and 7 PM of Dec 9.The JAC has appreciated the untiring efforts of the Manipur Tribals Forum Delhi and said they highly value their contribution towards the tribal movement.
The MTFD has assumed a pro-active role on the current movement and has been continuously holding protest rally at Jantar Mantar for the past several months.
It is also learnt that they are planning a coffin rally at New Delhi to mark the 100th day of the public agitation.
The consultative meeting that was attended by several tribal leaders and Innpis has also decided to begin the road construction and repairing exercise on crucial roads linking Churachandpur district, as was agreed in principle earlier, with the neighbouring States.
The JAC and Innpis/tribe leaders and other CSOs are also entrusted by the meeting to hold awareness campaigns across the hill districts of Manipur on the issue of tribal land and rights.
Further, the meeting resolved that Innpis/tribe councils get in touch with the sitting MP (Outer Manipur) Thangso Baite and advise him to speak out during the Winter session of Parliament in connection with the three anti-tribal Bills and its related issues.
The JAC has also appealed to tribe leaders to support them, if they find it necessary to initiate any form of agitation in the coming days, and also to the Ministry of Home Affairs to translate its Press Release dated November 9, 2015 into action at the earliest.
Today's meeting also minutely discussed and noted their appreciation to the Members of Parliament who have raised the issue of Manipur tribal on the floor of the Parliament on different occasions.
The current agitation in the hill districts of Manipur, particularly in Churachandpur and the bodies of unbalmed 'tribal martyrs' still lying at the hospital mortuary for close to 100 days has already been raised by two MPs in Parliament so far.
BJP MP from Uttarakhand, Tarun Vijay had raised the issue on December 3 and Jaya Bachan (UP), Aviary Rai Khanna (Punjab), Majeed Memon (Maharashtra), D Raja (Tamil Nadu), PL Punia (UP), MD Nadimul Haque (WB), Satyanarayan Jatiya (MP) and Tapan Kumar Sen (WB) had then sought to associate themselves with the issue.
The following day, on December 4, Mizoram MP Ronald Sapa Tlau again raised a question on the floor of the Rajya Sabha on the same issue and the Union Home Minister is expected to give a written reply on December 9 � the day the JAC will observe the hundredth day of their agitation.
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