All legislators must resign if Article 371(A) is imposed: AMUCO
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, August 04 2018: AMUCO president Ph Deban has warned that all the legislators and politicians in the State should resign from their respective posts and dismantle their party offices to establish a new Manipur that will have nothing to do with India in case Article 371 (A) is implemented in any part of the State.

Significantly it was on August 4, 1997 that AMUCO organised the integrity rally, which is understood to be the biggest rally staged in Manipur He also asked all Government employees to tender mass resignation from their respective posts if the said Article is enforced in the State.

He was speaking at the 21st Manipur Integrity Day organized today by AMUCO at MDU Hall, Yaiskul Police Lane, Imphal.

Deban alleged that the GoI has been consistently trying to break up Manipur into fragments since the State had merged into the Indian Union.

The people of the State are worried whether the State will survive the constants threats posed by GoI and other inimical forces or crumble under the ever growing challenges, he said and added it is of paramount importance to introspect the history of Manipur that has the commonality of hill people and valley people under a single roof.

It is the people of the State who have been protecting the integrity of the State till today, Deban asserted and went on to point out that no Government or political parties had ever protected or defended the State from any attempt to divide Manipur in the past.

Again, it is up to the people to protect the land from the impending threat of Article 371 (A) of the Indian Constitution, he continued.

He also warned that all the legislators and politicians in the State should resign from their respective posts and dismantle their party offices to proclaim that the State has excluded itself from Indian Union if the GoI enforces Article 371 (A) of the Indian Constitution in the State.

He also asked all the Government employees in the State to go for mass resignation if the GoI enforces Article 371 (A) in the State.

UCM president Sunil Karam asked all the legislators of the State to take a concrete decision on what to do if the Gol bulldozes its way and enforces Article 371 (A) of the Indian Constitution in the State during the special Manipur Assembly Session that will be held on August 10.Speaking as an invitee, the UCM president observed that it is high time that all the legislators and politicians, leaving aside political differences, fight collectively against the GoI's decision to grant Article 371 (A) of the Indian Constitution to all the Naga inhabited areas in India including Manipur.

He said that it is the last resort to protect Manipur adding that if the legislators and people of the State cannot protect/defend the State this time, then it would be impossible to protect the State in the future and the State will break into pieces.

Informing that the UCM and other CSOs of the State have rejected certain proposals of GoI's Interlocutor RN Ravi that will harm the State's interest, such as granting Sixth Schedule to the Naga inhabited areas and even clearly stated the stand of the CSOs that they oppose any policy/arrangement, including formation of Naga Territorial Council and any division in the State based on ethnic line, Sunil Karam further stated that the proposal of granting Article 371 (A) to Naga inhabited areas, including Manipur is against the will of the CSOs and people of the State.

He also maintained that BJP and Congress cannot run away from the contentious matter of granting 371 (A) in the State as Manipur MP Kshetrimayum Bhabananda and Congress leader P Chidambaram are member and Chairman respectively of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs.

He then questioned why MP Bhabananda cannot ask RN Ravi to do homework first and reject the matter of granting 371 (A) to Naga inhabited areas of Manipur when the interlocutor brought it (the matter of granting Article 371 A) up to the Parliamentary Standing Committee.

Urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to know the sentiments of the people of the State and work accordingly to protect the State from any threat, the UCM president cautioned that the people of the State might exclude themselves from the Indian Union.

He also alleged that the GoI has been trying to divert people's attention away from Framework Agreement by creating multiple issues at this juncture in the State.

Professor Homen Thangjam who attended the gathering as an invitee pointed out that only the sub-clause 1 of Article 371 (A) deals with cultures, traditions and other values of Nagas while contending that the rest of the Article may pose serious threats to the State of Manipur if it is enforced in the State.

He opined that the people of the State should collectively oppose imposition of the Article in the hill districts of the State.

Kuki Inpi, Manipur advisor Thangkhosei Haokip conveyed that the organization has been demanding inclusive solutions in the State while observing that GoI has been creating problems in the State by exploring community-based solutions in any issue.

He contended that the voice of people will be listened by the GoI only when the representatives from the State boldly speak up against the decisions New Delhi takes against the people of the State.

Many others intellectuals too spoke at the function which was also attended by All Manipur Muslim Development Organization president DP Shahid Ahmed and Poirei Leimarol Meira Paibi Apunba president L Memchoubi as presidium members.

People from various communities also paid tributes at the integrity pillar erected near Mapal Kangjeibung in the morning.

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