COPTAM extends deadline till December
Source: Hueiyen News Service / Newmai News Network

Imphal, December 03 2012: Committee on Protection of Tribal Areas, Manipur (COPTAM) has extended its deadline for those tribals involved in the 2012 Panchayati Raj elections to December end to resign from their respective post.

General Secretary of COPTAM Thangkam Lupheng said the Committee's 'joint meeting' was held yesterday and had decided to extend the deadline till December end.

On October 8, COPTAM had asked all those tribal candidates in the Panchayati Raj election whether elected or defeated should resign from their respective posts within the month of October and surrender to the COPTAM or any appropriate authority.

On Monday, Thangkam Lupheng said that it was unfortunate that those tribal people involved in the poll had failed to comply with to the directives issued by COPTAM.

Thangkam Lupheng said that the Committee's initiative has been to sort out problems at "our level".

The COPTAM leader said his organisation's is acting as a mediator between those tribal people involved in the Panchayat polls and "other concerned parties" who are not within the social organisation level ambit.

He however, did not elucidate what he meant by these "concerned parties" .

Thangkam Lupheng then said that if those tribal people who were involved in the Panchayat polls of 2012 continue to remain adamant to its call then COPTAM is all set to discard itself as the mediator's role.

"In that event, we shall not be held responsible if any untoward incident befall on these tribal people in question," the COPTAM leader cautions.

It is worthwhile to mention here that on October 6, in its meeting, COPTAM had resolved and demanded that the state government should totally cancel and withdraw all the Panchayati Raj election process from any part of the hill districts of Manipur at the earliest.

Another resolution was that all the concerned chiefs/chairmen/headmen of tribal villages, concerned MDCs/ MLAs and Hill Area Committee (HAC) should take the responsibility to ensure that no tribal voters and villages in the hill districts were included in the Panchayat/Zilla Parishad elections and valley assembly and Parliament constituencies in future.

"Any tribal from the hill districts participating or involving in the recent Panchayati Raj elections, 2012 shall be socially boycotted, bar from receiving any benifit from hills districts administrations and ADCs and should not hold any post in any tribal societies/organisation/authorities for going against the interest of tribals in Manipur until an amicable solution is reached with the COPTAM," states one resolution.

The fift one said that any tribal living in the hill districts who prefers to remain under Panchayati Raj shall better leave their hearths and homes in the hills histricts and find a place for settlement in the valley districts.

"Any one who does not respect these COPTAM resolutions shall be taken as anti-tribal and appropriate actions shall be initiated against them.

Any one failing to comply with the terms and conditions of this declaration shall bear responsibilities by themselves and for which COPTAM cannot be blamed afterwards," it warns.

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