Manipur Tribals’ Forum, UK
17 Moray Avenue
Hayes, London
England
UB3 2AU
United Kingdom
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Dated: 20th September 2015

To

Smt. Sonia Gandhi,
President, All India Congress Committee
24, Akbar Road, New Delhi 10011    

Subject:   Request for immediate remedial intervention on discriminatory acts against the tribal people by the Congress government in Manipur.
 
 Respected Ma’am,

The Manipur Tribals’ Forum, UK, would like to bring the following facts to your attention for your kind perusal and prompt action.

1. That, on 31stAugust, 2015, the Congress government in Manipur passed three bills including the Manipur Land Revenue & Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment) Bill 2015. In this process the Hill Areas Committee (HAC), which was set up under Article 371C of the Constitution to protect tribal interests to scrutinise all legislation affecting tribal areas, was not consulted during the passage of these Bills. Furthermore, the community of tribal people were not consulted by either the ‘Joint Committee’ nor by the Manipur government that tabled and passed these Bills in the State Assembly.

2. That, the manner in which these Bills were rushed through the State Assembly, as well as the content of the Bills, elicited strong opposition from all the tribal people of Manipur. The brutal force used against the resulting peaceful protest caused the loss of nine precious lives including a ten year old child. In addition, a large number of the protesters were left with serious injuries. Furthermore, the incidents have increased the sense of distrust and suspicion due to the presence of unidentified armed miscreants from the Valley. The use of live bullets, in contrast to the rubber bullets commonly used in protests relating to the Valley, demonstrates there was little attempt by the state forces to minimise loss of life or injury to the innocent civilians.

3. That, even after 20 days, the dead bodies of our nine tribal brothers remain unburied and peaceful demonstrations have been carried out every day in the tribal districts of Manipur. The emergent people’s movement in this part of the world has witnessed untold sacrifices from the tribals especially the women’s group, who have been at the forefront of this from the very beginning. The Congress government in the state has utterly failed to secure law and order, remains incompetent to resolve the issue and appears to be lacking in having any coherent roadmap to break this impasse.

4. That, till date, not a single Congress leader in the state has visited the tribal districts regarding the pressing problem. The tribal people vehemently demanding for the resignation of their elected representatives, mostly Congress MLAs, clearly reflects the people’s loss of faith on them.  This has resulted in a serious leadership crisis. With the public unrelenting in their demands, the chances of this situation snowballing into an irreparable state looms large.

At this juncture, we are reminded of the fact that the Congress leadership has been a strong supporter of tribal rights throughout history. The recent actions of the Congress government in Manipur have left us with a deep sense of being betrayed. We are saddened and pained on the complete lack of attention and silence of the Congress high command on this very sensitive matter affecting tribal rights in Manipur.

The tribals in Manipur, with Constitutional safeguards under Article 371C, are convinced more than ever that they can no longer be victims of a systematic cycle of injustice and discrimination.

We have our faith in the Congress party that you will not allow tribal interests be trampled upon in any part of the country.  In keeping up with the concern and initiatives taken by the Congress for the protection, preservation and securing of tribal interests, we appeal to you to take immediate steps in this regard.

We, the Manipur Tribals’ Forum, UK, therefore would like to request immediate intervention from the Congress central leadership as below;

a) To press upon the Manipur government to repeal the three contentious bills.
b) To send a team of senior party leaders to visit the affected tribal areas and review the situation.  
c) To demand for a judicial inquiry into the incidents in Churachandpur district that led to the killing of nine tribals.
d) To organise consultative meetings with various Manipur tribal civil society organisations (CSOs)/ forums in Manipur and in other cities across India.
e) To expedite the process for review of the demand for total separate administration for the hill districts of Manipur.
f) To consult all parties concerned to come to an amicable and lasting political solution to resolve the recurring conflicts between the interests of the hill and valley people in Manipur.

We thank you for your time in considering the above issues, and we trust you will investigate further with the utmost urgency. We look forward to receiving your response to our concerns, and continue to hope that fair and just policies for the tribal areas are secured without further violence.

Kaileankhup Khongsai    
Chairman         
Alian Suantak    
Secretary             
Benjamin Guite
Information & Publicity                                

 
Cc
1. Shri Rahul Gandhi, Hon’ble Vice President, AICC
2. Shri SS Sidhu, Minister (Co-ordination), High Commissioner of India, London