SoO pact expires, but ground rules to stay in force, MHA officials to arrive soon Blockade suspension on menu, KNO positive
IMPHAL, Nov 21 : The two umbrella organisations of the Kuki armed groups, the KNO and the UPF, which are signatories to the SoO pact have assured the Additional Director General of Police, LM Khaute that they would urge the Kuki State Demand Committee to call off the public blockade.
The response of the two groups came during a meeting held at Churachandpur today.
Concurrently even as the SoO pact is set to expire tomorrow, the ground rules will still be in force, to pave the way for the State Government to lobby with the Centre to start a political dialogue with the KNO and UPF.
Exuding confidence of a positive outcome, the senior police officer informed The Sangai Express that during the meeting, the efforts taken up by the State Government to pressurise the Centre to start a political negotiation was made clear.
“The two groups were appreciative of the efforts taken up by the State Government to start a political negotiation and they assured that the question of lifting the public blockade would be discussed soon with the KSDC,” said Khaute.
A formal notification on the status of the public blockade is however yet to be known till the time of filing this report.
In another development, the KNO has reviewed its decision of abrogating the ongoing SoO pact with the Government. The deadline given by the KNO was November 22.
The KNO said the Kuki State Demand Committee (KSDC)’s stand of continuing the agitation “can be suspended now” as the Government of India had assured to start the dialogue after the Winter session of Parliament.
In an exclusive interview with Newmai News Network this afternoon at an undisclosed location, KNO spokesman Seilen Haokip said, “We have waited for seven years to begin the dialogue and now the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has conveyed its position through the Government of Manipur that the process to work out the modalities for dialogue should begin any day after the Parliament Session. I think this is quite enough and the KSDC should suspend their agitation now.
“We are satisfied with the assurance from the Union Home Minister to begin the dialogue after the ensuing Parliament Session,” said Seilen Haokip.
Officials from the Union Home Ministry will also be arriving soon to meet leaders of the KNO and UPF, said Khaute and added that in the intervening period of the State Government approaching the Centre and the Union Home Ministry officials coming here, the ground rules of the SoO pact will be in force.
About 14 days time was the period given to the ‘intervening period.’
Once the modalities are worked out during the intervening period, the SoO pact will be extended formally, he added.
The SoO pact came into force between the Kuki armed groups and the Centre in 2005 and the State Government entered the pact in 2008.
Earlier Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam had met the Union Home Minister to press for the start of a political with the Kuki UG groups under the SoO pact.
During a press conference held at Delhi some time back, the spokesperson of the KNO had stated that if a determined date to start a political dialogue is not spelt out soon then there would be ‘no more signing’ of the pact after it expires on November 22.
The SoO pact was to be in force for 3 months.
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ZHRF (Zomi Human Rights Foundation) opposes
Source: The Sangai Express
Lamka, November 21 2012: The Zomi Human Rights Foundation today raised its objection to the Public Hearing held today at Sibapukhrikhal of Churachandpur district on the ground that local villages concerned and the hill people in general were not fully intimated about the agreement signed between the government and the private company that is carrying out oil exploration exercise.
In an objection statement submitted to the DC Churachandpur, ZHRF Secretary Suanmoi Guite, said that he had the right to object the proposed public hearing at Sibapukhrikhal Community Hall, Sibapukrikhal, Tipaimukh sub-division, Churachandpur District on November 21 in the interest of the Indigenous tribal peoples on numerous grounds.
The ZHRF dubbed the agreements signed for Oil Exploration by M/s Jubilant Oil and Gas Pvt Ltd with the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources, Government of India, as discreet on the ground that it was incomprehensible and without the free, prior, and informed consent of the Indigenous People.
'The Hill Indigenous People who according to the Manipur Hills Regulation Act of 1947 are the true and rightful owner of the Land.
The Hill Areas Committee, Manipur (HAC), a Constitutional Body under Article 371 C of the Indian Constitution was not consulted at the time of signing the agreement even though the Indian Constitution had mandated a consultation with the Hill Areas Committee for any measure that shall affect the interest and affairs of the Hills of Manipur.
'Furthermore, the grassroots level representatives of the people, the Autonomous District Council of Churachandpur was also neither taken into consideration nor consulted,' he said.
Suanmoi also pointed out various loopholes on the Environmental Impact Assessment conducted for the scientific exploration.
The EIA, he said, was conducted for six months i.e., November 2011 to February, 2012, during the Manipur General Election, when everyone was busy in exercising their Right to Vote, without the participation of the indigenous people concerned.
The ZHRF has also raised doubt on the agency that conducted the EIA.
'What logic of justice do they imagine we will buy into, when the EIA was conducted by an organisation in the service of the Jubilant Oil and Gas Company rather than in service of the people,' it queried.
The lengthy argument made by Suanmoi thus asserted that they are forced to conclude that the opportunity costs of allowing exploration in the said regions is far too high - the probable destruction, for long-term and short-term, and the socio-cultural fall-out, which in all likelihood will occur, is far too great to be exchanged for a few bread, coins and indentured labour.
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ATSUM revival still in limbo
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network
Imphal, November 21 2012: The quagmire pertaining to the 'revival' of All Tribal Students' Union, Manipur (ATSUM) is here to stay for a longer period than expected.
On Wednesday, the Kuki Students' Organisation (KSO) said that it does not recognize the 'general assembly' convened on November 20 at Hotel Tampha by some tribal student leaders in the guise of All Tribal Students' Union, Manipur (ATSUM) .
The KSO declared that all decisions or resolutions adopted in that "bogus assembly" were in vain.
And the mooted 'tribal commission' advocated by the assembly was nothing but futile attempt to gain acceptance in the eyes of the public by posing as ATSUM, the Kuki students' body stated.
"On November 13, 2012, a consultative meeting was held at Hotel Imphal participated by Senapati District Students' Association (SDSA), Naga Students' Union Chandel (NSUC), Kuki Students' Organisation (KSOGeneral Headquarters) and its district branches, former ATSUM presidents, secretaries, and advisors; in the august presence of the ATSUM's founder president.
In that meeting the controversial formation of ATSUM was deliberated and all the participants expressed their regret that such a situation that had never happened in the history of ATSUM came out to taunt the tribal society today.
After a threadbare discussion, it was unanimously agreed that an 'interim body' of five members be formed.
Accordingly a 'five member interim body' was constituted which includes the ATSUM founder president and four other senior leaders.
The five member interim body was authorized to find a solution for holding a legitimate ATSUM election.
The meeting resolved that no leaders should waver from supporting this course of action until its objective is achieved.
The interim body also decided not to resort to a 'paper war' in the interest of tribal solidarity and well being of ATSUM," the Kuki Students' Organisation (KSO) said.
According to the KSO, it pledges to find a way out of this imbroglio and settle this contentious issue in a peaceful manner.
"It is to be noted that Churachandpur District Students' Union (CDSU), in its letter addressed to the 'self styled' speaker of ATSUM, has already 'suspended' its presidential candidacy in the supposedly formed ATSUM.
It does not support this ATSUM anymore.
Therefore, this supposedly formed ATSUM can never represent the whole tribal population of Manipur.
It does not have the mandate to represent the hope and aspiration of the tribal people.
As a matter of fact, it is prudent of these student leaders to form a new organization if they are that much eager to work for tribal interests, rather than function in the name and style of ATSUM," the KSO suggested.
The Kuki students' body then said since this is a "pseudo ATSUM" having no legitimate support of KSO and All Naga Students' Association, Manipur (ANSAM), verily it will be seen that everything it embodied will be just hogwash.
"These people should not try to steal the name of ATSUM but trying to realize that ATSUM cannot just work without the 'unanimous' support of the KSO and ANSAM as its supporting pillars.
These supposed leaders of ATSUM must not hope to take the easy way out by trying to gain mileage from whatever ATSUM had painstakingly built and achieved so far," the Kuki students' body cautions.
Time and again, the KSO then urges the public not to accord any recognition or lend any support to this 'pseudo ATSUM' .
The ATSUM will be restored to its former self under the auspice of the 'five member interim body', with the support of the ANSAM, the KSO, and the former leaders of ATSUM, the Kuki students' body added.
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Extinction fears haunt Manipur Hmars
Yumnam Rupachandra, Imphal (Nov 20): The indigenous Hmars of Manipur, who inhabit the southern parts of the state, largely in the Tipaimukh subdivision, fear that their race would be extinct once the oil exploration and drilling process starts in the region.
According to Hmar Inpui, the apex body of the tribe, the fate of its people has been sacrificed on the altar of profit by oil and gas tycoons. Their fear comes from a series of MoUs signed recently by the Centre and Manipur government with oil firms that allow exploration of oil and natural gas in the Tipaimukh and Vanghai areas of the state.
The licence for exploration of oil in Manipur’s Hmar-inhabited areas has been awarded to Jubilant Oil and Gas Private Ltd. Under the same block, the same company has also been given the licence to explore oil and gas in the adjoining Tamenglong district, mainly inhabited by Zeliangrongs.
The community has not been taken into confidence by both the Central and Manipur governments in deciding to award the licence to the said company, said Lalawilien Hmar, president of Hmar Inpui, GHQ, and Lalhminthang Hmar, president Hmar Inpui, Vanghai region, in a joint statement to the media. Calling the whole process a covert one, the duo said that the episode was shrouded in secrecy and no information was made available to the people.
“This is contrary to the principle behind the Right to Information Act,” the Hmar leaders said.
“We have been made to realise that the project is anti-people. Despite the high-risk the proposed projects involve, the government has not only failed to inform the people about their adverse impact, but also to represent their approved consent. In short, the projects did not take into consideration the existence of the indigenous people and their rights. We shall not allow our ignorance to be plundered by the oil and gas tycoons in the name of ‘development’,” the statement said.
The Hmar Inpui also accused the state government of instilling injustice by not adopting a democratic process to weave consent of the Hmar people who stand to lose the most.
The Hmar Inpui also accused the state government of addressing the oil exploration project as a “vehicle” to redress the social, economic and political exclusion of the community after years of deprivation.
“It will alienate the people and their rights from their ancestral land, forests, rivers, and natural resources,” said t he Hmar leaders. A consultation meeting held at Ankhasuo on November 16 a sked the state government to declare a moratorium on the exploration apart from asking the oil giants to withdraw from the Hmar areas.
The meeting also reiterated an earlier demand by the other bodies to scrap the MoUs signed by the government with the companies and declare them null and void. Oil exploration in both Man ipur and Nagaland under the eighth round of the New Exploration Licencing Policy has been mired by stiff resistance from the local people.
The government has been forced to hold public hearings for oil exploration under heavy security cover after protesting villagers stormed the proceedings.
http://sevensisterspost.com/extinction-fears-haunt-manipur-hmars/