PREPAK shares thoughts on Indigenous People's Day
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, August 08 2011: The proscribed PREPAK has greeted all the indigenous people of the world on the occasion of the International Day of World's Indigenous People which falls on August 9 .

It is on records that many smaller nations which were once independent having their own philosophy, economy, polity and culture had either been absorbed into numerically greater nations or disappeared totally due to imprudence at some historical periods.

On the other hand, many other smaller nations have emerged anew in different shapes while a number of older nations have been thriving by carefully safeguarding and promoting their ancient traditions and customs, PREPAK noted in a statement issued by its assistant secretary, publicity and propaganda, Leibakngakpa Luwang.

At present, there are 300 to 500 million indigenous people spread across more than 70 countries and speaking more than 5000 native languages.

These people have been struggling hard to preserve their culture and tradition so as to avoid assimilation into larger communities or nations.

These people are given different names such indigenous people, first nation, Aborigine, native people, Adivasi etc.

However, the United Nations recognise them collectively as indigenous people.

United Nations Special Rapporteur J Martinez Cobo in his 1970 report defined indigenous people as "Indigenous communities, peoples and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing in those territories or parts of them.

They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal system" .

The issue of indigenous people was given greater prominence by the International Labour Organisation Convention No 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples 1989 .

Indigenous people coming from different parts of the world formed the Working Group of Indigenous Peoples (WGIP) under the UN's Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.

The working group held a five-day session at Geneva from August 9 to 13, 1982 .

Under the theme 'Evolution of standards concerning the rights of the indigenous populations', the session deliberated on six different points; a) Right to life, to physical integrity, and to security of the indigenous populations, b) Right to self-determination, right to develop their own culture, tradition, language and way of life, c) Right to freedom of religion and traditional religious practices, d) Right to land and natural resources, e) Civil and political rights and f) Right to education.

August 9, the opening day of the session was declared as the International Day of the World's Indigenous People by the UN General Assembly resolution No 49/214 in 1994 .

Resolution No 48/163 of the UN General Assembly declared 1995-2004 as International Decade of the World's Indigenous People, the outfit stated.

Since the day Kangleipak (Manipur) fell into the hands of alien agents, the people of Kangleipak have been struggling between life and dead.

In the name of democracy and education, the alien rule has been actively endorsing population and cultural assimilation theories as well as dilution theory of national identities.

Such police of the alien has been posing serious threat to social and national values of the land.

To the younger generation of students, the alien culture and practices are more popular that the indigenous culture and customs.

Such cultural orientation was deliberately manipulated over the years by New Delhi to foster greater 'spiritual ties' with India, it alleged.

The outfit further highlighted the need for the indigenous people of both the hills and valley to observe the International Day of World's Indigenous People Day together.

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