Residence of Tribal Hill Ministers and MLAs burned by angry protesters
ZNN | Churachandpur 31 August 2015. Following widespread violence and continuous protest for implementation of Inner Line Permit System (ILPS) for more than a month now by Imphal valley based civil society spear headed by Joint Committee on ILP (JCILP) the Manipur state government had conceded to passing of three bills in the State Assembly.
Subsequently, a special sitting of the state legislative assembly convened by Chief Minister O.Ibobi Singh today passed three bills (1) Protection of Manipur Peoples Bill, 2015 (2) Manipur Land Revenue & Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2015 (3) Manipur Shops & Establishments (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015.
The said three bills were opposed by the Hill based Apex Tribal student bodies, the Kuki Student Organization (KSO), the All Naga Student Association, Manipur (ANSAM) The Zomi Student Federation (ZSF) and All Tribal Student Union , Manipur (ATSUM) . The said apex bodies called a protest bandh against the passing of the three bills.
The key reason for opposition to said the three bills , according to the Hill Tribal student bodies was that the said bills overlap Article 371C of the constitution and Manipur Hill People Administration Regulation Act, 1947. In a prèss communiqué released yesterday the student bodies stated that various intimations have been made known to the Government regarding their stands on many occasions.
It maybe mentioned that Article 371C is a Special provision with respect to the State of Manipur that says :
(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, the President may, by order made with respect to the State of Manipur, provide for the constitution and functions of a committee of the Legislative Assembly of the State consisting of members of that Assembly elected from the Hill Areas of that State, for the modifications to be made in the rules of business of the Government and in the rules of procedure of the Legislative Assembly of the State and for any special responsibility of the Governor in order to secure the proper functioning of such committee
(2) The Governor shall annually, or whenever so required by the President, make a report to the President regarding the administration of the Hill Areas in the State of Manipur and the executive power of the Union shall extend to the giving of directions to the State as to the administration of the said areas Explanation In this article, the expression Hill Areas means such areas as the President may, by order, declare to be Hill Areas.
Life came to a stand still in the hill areas comprising of Churachandpur, Chandel, Ukhrul, Senapati, Mao, Tamenglong. In the evening protesters burn the residence of Ministers and MLAs , mostly from the district of Churachandpur.
While details of destruction and loss of life are still awaited, at the time of this report at least five legislator's residence are reported to have been burnt down, about 20 injured and four youth are reported death at Churachandpur district hospital. Para Military forces have also rushed in the main headquarter town of Lamka.
~ Zogam.com News Network (ZNN)
