TNL meets minister, MLA on Ukhrul, Kamjong issues
Source: Chronicle News Service / R Lester Makang
Ukhrul, July 24 2024:
In a landmark move to address longstanding grievances of the Tangkhul community, Tangkhul Naga Long(TNL) president Sword Vashum met with transport, and veterinary & animal husbandry minister Khashim Vashum and Phungyar MLA Leishiyo Keishing, and had in-depth discussion on several key issues affecting both Ukhrul and Kamjong districts.
In a press communique issued on Wednesday, TNL president Sword Vashum stated that he met with both - minister Khashim Vashum and MLA Leishiyo Keishing, although Ukhrul MLA Ram Muivah could not make it due to health issues, in a joint meeting held at his office chamber in Ukhrul town on July 19.According to the statement, the discussions centred around various prominent issues including restoration of the Yaingangpokpi police station to Ukhrul district, rectification of territorial jurisdictions of the hill districts, ensuring the full fledged functioning of government institutions in Tangkhul areas, just and transparent resource allocation to the hills, and the ills of scrapping of the Free Movement Regime (FMR) along the India-Myanmar border.
Regarding the Yaingangpokpi police station, the TNL president stated that there is no extraordinary justification for its current placement outside of Ukhrul district, which is a violation of the constitutional mandate under Article 371(C) .
"No extraordinary justification exists for such extraordinarily abnormal/unusual administrative physical arrangement.
Far more absurd is total non-compliance with constitutional mandate that entails approval of the HAC vide Art 371(C) of the constitution for such extraordinary arrangement affecting the hills.
Therefore, justice be done by restoring Yaingangpokpi police station to Ukhrul district without further delay," he stated.
According to Vashum, the TNL, along with the 10 Naga MLAs and the United Naga Council (UNC), will initiate necessary actions to restore the police station to Ukhrul district.
On the issue of territorial jurisdictions, Vashum emphasised that the arbitrary bifurcation and relocation of hill districts have caused immense distress to the local population.
"Such arbitrary acts of bifurcation and relocation have caused unspeakable hurts to human sentiments & emotions apart from creating avoidable unnecessary administrative inconveniences.
The most absurd element in the exercise however, is total unconstitutionality in as much the institution of HAC stands completely bypassed in direct contravention of Art 371(C) of the constitution" .
He then mentioned that the TNL, in collaboration with the Naga People's Front (NPF) MLAs and other Naga tribal organisations, will work to rectify these unconstitutional changes within a time-bound manner.
Regarding the functioning of government institutions in Tangkhul areas, he noted that many such establishments, despite being opened years or even decades ago, remain dysfunctional or underutilised due to the lack of basic infrastructure and facilities.
"These have only proven themselves white elephants - symbols of insult and injustice to the people.
Age-old typical modus operandi of the state government is the practice of erecting foundation stones followed by construction of name-sake structures, as so and so offices - without first providing for requisite infrastructure like school, health cares, policing and banking facilities".
He observed that the end result turned out to be placing the cart before the horse that effectively renders all such government institutions non-functional or dysfunctional.
The meeting agreed to take urgent measures to ensure the 100 per cent functionality of these institutions like SDOs, BDOs, and district level Institutions, which are otherwise left to rot away, in the shortest possible time, he said.
On the critical issue of resource allocation, the TNL president stated that a collaborative exercise will be undertaken to ensure a just, proper, and transparent distribution of funds and resources, particularly in the areas of health, education, social welfare, agriculture, and infrastructure development (power, water, roads) among others in Ukhrul and Kamjong districts.
"For the time being, our exercise would be limited to fund devolution to Manipur and the break up sectoral allocations to the hills (Ukhrul and Kamjong in particular) under the 15th Finance Commission (2020 -21 to 2025 - 26)", he declared.
At the same time, the TNL president expressed concern over the scraping of the Free Movement Regime (FMR), and termed it a matter of life and death.
He lamented that, for no fault of theirs, the Nagas have had to suffer unimaginable trauma of physical and emotional separations as parting gift from the British Colonial Regime on their departure.
"Not content with that, the Government of India, on the pretext of containing the adverse fallouts of Meitei/Meetei and Zo-Kuki conflicts, has now taken recourse to a diabolical plan for erections of fencing walls along the boundary lines between India and Myanmar.
Let it be known to One and All' that scrapping of free movement regime across borders falling within Naga inhabited areas is nothing short of thrusting salt into festering wounds as medicine.
We, Nagas, are not wild animals that we should be fenced off and segregated into your sanctuaries.
Denial of blood relationship (only to subserve the exclusive interests of certain community) is denial of human rights of the gravest kind and therefore shall never be accepted", the TNL president said .
"This being a grave political issue, it is agreed upon that the issue will be taken up by the Naga political platform holders, including MLAs and the member of parliament, and the civil society will lend their full support to these initiatives", he added.
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