ATSUM (Muan Tombing) seeks separate administration for tribal
IMPHAL, August 20: The All Tribal Students Union Manipur (Muan Tombing) has sought immediate intervention of the Centre and to impose President’s Rule in the State.
In a press release, Muan Tombing said the continuous agitations by the State’s dominant community through the JCILPS caused much grievances to the tribal populace of Manipur.
He has further expressed that it is the heartfelt cry of the tribals of Manipur that President’s Rule be imposed in the State for now, and arrangements be made for the separate administration of the minority tribal and majority Meitei areas of Manipur said President Moun Tombing.
The press release said in Manipur more than two months have passed since the Meiteis of the Imphal valley started their high-decibel agitation demanding the implementation of the Inner Line Permit in Manipur.
“And it has brought about untold miseries and hardships for the minority tribal populace in the State.”
The incessant and often violent agitations have virtually cut off all links to the State Capital, Imphal and have greatly impacted the transportation of essential commodities within the State, including the movement of life-saving drugs and equipment’s, it claimed.
The statement also charged that there have been instances where ambulances run by various tribal philanthropic organisations carrying patients from far-flung tribal areas for the better-equipped hospitals in Imphal have been attacked.
There have been numerous reports where vehicles belonging to tribals, especially those bearing number plates from the tribal districts (Lamka/Churachandpur, Ukhrul, Senapati, Tamenglong and Chandel) have been purposely targeted, it alleged.
The State government has remained a mere spectator to this whole episode, and has left the minority tribal community to fend for them, it continued.
Offices and educational institutions in the Imphal Valley have been shut for more than a month now, and life has literally been thrown off-gear, it said.
There have been instances where tribal folks residing in and around Imphal have been forced to unwillingly participate in these agitations, and those failing to do so have been warned with dire consequences, including payment of a fixed amount of fine daily or inflicting physical injury, or both, Muan Tombing charged in his statement.
It may be noted here that the tribals are of the opinion that the demand for Inner Line Permit by the majority Meitei community is an attempt to brand the tribals as migrants – one of the provisions of their demand is to classify all residents not registered before 1951 as non-locals or migrants, Tombing claimed in his statement.
“In 1951, majority of the tribals in the hills of Manipur were independent from any external control and not even aware that they were a part of this State called Manipur, or has not even heard of such a name! A majority of the tribal villages were never visited by any Government machinery then, including those involved in the Census in those days.”
As such, the tribals of Manipur are in a constant state of fear that their ancestral lands will be grabbed by the majority community sooner or later, either through the Inner Line Permit or some other pretext, unless the Central government intervenes, he observed.
The panic and distress in the hearts and minds of the minority tribal populace, both in the Imphal valley as well as the tribal hill districts is palpable, he continued.
It is the belief among the tribal people in Manipur that the State Government has deliberately failed to address their blatant fear, and there is growing apprehension that the tribals will have to tow the line as per the whims and fancies of the majority Meitei community more and more in the coming months if the Central Government does not intervene at this juncture, it said.
