ATSUM (Tombing) urges Gov not to approve ILPS bill

IFP | IMPHAL, August 29: The All Tribal Students Union Manipur (Muan Tombing) has submitted a representation to the Governor of Manipur Dr Syed Ahmed bringing forth its position and apprehension with regard to the present movement for the introduction of Inner Line Permit System in Manipur being initiated by the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (ILPS).

It said the proposed Bill, is being drafted as per the wish and whims of the above mentioned committee without any representation from the tribal Assembly members.

It continued that historically, the Hill tribes in the present Manipur were never ruled by the Manipur Raja.

"In fact, it was the British who brought the hill areas within the fold of Manipur and engaged with them indirectly through the British Political Agent. Even after Manipur was annexed after the Palace Uprising (1891), the hill areas was not brought under the Raja, but kept under the President of Darbur, the post reserved for a British Officer," it said.

The statement also highlighted that it was only after the Kuki Uprising (1917 – 1919), that the British introduced new administrative arrangement for the hill areas by dividing into 4 (four) Sub – Divisions - each with a British Officer In - charge stationed at the Sub – Divisional Headquarters.

In short the tribal people of Manipur are under separate administrative setup since British era and, much before the Indian Independence (1947) or the Merger Agreement of Manipur to the Union of India in 1949, it claimed.

"When Manipur was about to be conferred statehood in 1972, there was an apprehension that the interest of the tribal would be at stake. So, the Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council Act, 1971 was enacted by the Parliament to address the issue as a measure," it said.

"The Hill Areas of Manipur and its people are also protected by the Hill Areas Committee which is constitutionally envisaged under Article 371C of the Indian Constitution. But as this Committee has no longer Legislative and Judiciary powers, it cannot function to its intended provision of safeguarding the interest of the tribal in the Hill Areas of Manipur," it claimed.

"Given the background of the tribal people, who are being marginalized in their ancestral homeland due to absence and lack of political autonomy to safeguard their interest like other people in the Northeast India, we would like to state that the demands for Inner Line Permit System (ILPS) and Schedule Tribe (ST) status for the already advanced Meitei community, declaration of the whole of Manipur as 'Hill State/Tribal State', and extension of Manipur Land Revenue & Land Reform Act (1960) to the whole State of Manipur are all ambiguous and not appropriate at all," it said.

It further claimed that the tribal of Manipur and its mandated civil societies (students, youth, women, chiefs and the apex bodies) are not at all consulted by the JCILPS before launching their intensive movement. The State Cabinet also did not have the courtesy to consult the Hill Areas Committee even though the issue is much of relevance to the hill-tribal people as it is for the plain people of Manipur, it said.

The student wing of the JCILPS also does not have the courtesy of at least informing the ATSUM of their involvement in the movement, it said.

ATSUM is pained to the heart to silently see the closure of all Educational Institutions of Manipur for the last almost 2 months, it said.

As the tribal are nowhere involved in the proposed ILPS, even if it is passed by the Manipur Legislative Assembly, it should cover Valley Areas only as it is being proposed and propagated by the Meiteis of the valley, it said.

The tribal people also feel the demand for the ILPS and its enforcement in the entire State of Manipur is aimed at having a uniform law for both Valley and Hills and is a ploy designed to serve the interest of a particular community, it claimed.

It has further requested the Governor to not give assent to the Bill likely to be passed by the Assembly in the immediate future as the same is going to impede on the rights and privileges of the tribal people of Manipur. The consent and approval of the Hill Areas Committee (HAC) may also be sought as the same is very much related to the welfare of the Hill Areas of the state, it said.

This representation is therefore placed before your Hon'ble self to make an official executive order so as to implement the power and function of the HAC independently as per Article 371C and to cause the Governor of Manipur to exercise his discretion in the spirit of Article 371(2); 371A [1(b)]; 371C(1 ) and 371F(g) to secure the proper functioning of the Hill Areas Committee which will go a long way in strengthening the interest of the state, it said.