Four NPF legislators from Manipur resign

EMN DIMAPUR, SEPTEMBER 5 Four legislators of the Naga People’s Front (NPF) have resigned from the Manipur Legislative Assembly in protest against what they termed as “the consistent, cruel, crude and unpardonable anti-tribal and anti-Naga attitude, approach and actions of the Ibobi Singh government of Manipur as evident from its recent legislative measures such as the Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015, the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2015, the Manipur Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015 and the Resolution on the Indo-Naga Peace Accord.” The four NPF legislators are L Dikho, Samuel Risom, ST Victor Nunghlung and Dr V Alexander Pao. A joint press statement on Saturday stated that they have resigned as a supreme sacrifice for the protection of the short and long term interests of all the tribal people including Nagas inhabiting the hill districts of Manipur. “The height of anti-tribal, anti-Naga and undemocratic posture of the Ibobi government is its persistent denial to constitute and notify the two Autonomous District Councils in Chandel and Tamenglong despite a clear majority obtained by the Naga People’s Front in these two districts,” the press statement read. In view of the brute majority at the command of the Ibobi Singh government in the House, the Speaker had bulldozed our genuine aspirations for debate on the Bill so that our voice for the tribals and Nagas of the Hill Districts was not registered on the records of the Assembly, it stated. “The Speaker followed a steamrolling procedure of not allowing sufficient time for us to express our views and to table amendments as otherwise these Bills and resolution would have been moderated after Parliamentary persuasion. We were also not allowed to stage a walk out from the House at the time of passing of these measures as the Speaker jumped procedure to declare that these measures were passed without due deliberations and without allowing us time to register our final protest of walk out. “Our resignations are aimed at condemnation of the Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015 which treats Nagas and other tribes from Nagaland and other states in the region as non-Manipuris and compelling them to have ILPs to enter Manipur thereby making them foreigners in their own land. Such legislation is squarely contrary to the very spirit of the agenda on the table of the Indo-Naga Peace talks, of which the strident aspiration is to bring all Nagas in the contiguous areas under one umbrella. This legislation is nothing but a ruse to derail the Indo-Naga peace talks and thus not only anti-naga but anti-national inasmuch as it aims at throwing a spanner in the peace talks,” it read. The four legislators said that their resignations were also an expression of their deep indignation against the Ibobi Singh government on behalf of all tribals and Nagas, for drastically altering the customary land holding system in the Hill Districts through the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2015. “This Bill seeks to insert sections 14A and 14B in the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act, 1960 empowering Deputy Commissioners and the State Cabinet to divest tribals and Nagas of their lands by nullifying the customary laws of the Hill people. “On the one hand, when the Congress Party has launched a nation-wide year long agitation against the NDA’s land acquisition Bill, the Ibobi Singh Government in Manipur is surreptitiously seeking to usurp the lands of tribals and Nagas of the Hill Districts thereby demolishing the demographic structure of these districts by facilitating fresh settlers and destroying the unique land holding systems of the tribals and Nagas in these districts. “ They stated that the Manipur Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015 also was an assault on the traditional rights of the tribals and Nagas of the Hill Districts of Manipur. “All the three Bills which are of crucial significance to the customary and cultural lives of the tribals and Nagas of the Hill Districts of Manipur were passed in one single day, without debate, without permission to move amendments, and without following the legislative procedure enshrined in the Constitution of India and the Rules of Procedure of the House. “The MLAs from the Hill Districts especially the NPF MLAs’ clarion call for democratic procedure went unheeded both by the Speaker and by the Ibobi government.” Again on August 31 last, another resolution on the Indo-Naga Peace Talks was hurriedly passed by the Ibobi government in total collusion with the Speaker, it stated. “The amendments proposed by the NPF MLAs were disregarded. “Though the NPF MLAs opposed the resolution which questioned the agenda of the Indo-Naga peace talks, the resolution was so worded that it sought to dismember the items of the agenda like “integration of contiguous Naga areas” from the ongoing peace talks. “By introducing such words like “administration of the State of Manipur” in the resolution, the Ibobi government had directly interfered with the alternative solutions being explored by the government of India for integrating Nagas of the region,” it stated. In nutshell, the Ibobi government appears to have decided to be a permanent stumbling block to the solution to the Naga Political problem, which is highly condemnable and against which, we have decided to resign from the Assembly to be with the people of the Hill Districts, it informed. The four MLAs called upon the Governor of Manipur, the President of India, the NDA Government at the Centre, the Interlocutor for the Indo-Naga Peace talks, “the people, the churches, the leaders and the workers of all political parties to unite, consolidate and act in tandem so that the injustices committed by the Ibobi government through the aforesaid legislative measures and resolution on the people of the Hill districts, are halted and reversed.” By this resignations of ours, we also declare that we do not believe in manipulation of House records and also declare that we were never been a party to the passing of the aforesaid legislative measures. Thus the dubious records of the Assembly that state that these measures were passed unanimously should stand straightened by our resignations, they declared. “We fervently hope that our resignations from the Assembly will bring about the much needed succor to the wounded feelings of all our brothers and sisters of the Hill Districts,” they shared.   EMN DIMAPUR, SEPTEMBER 5 At the backdrop of Manipur violence, four tribal organizations have come out with a Joint Declaration containing five resolutions after a closed-door meeting. The declaration, signed by Gaidon Kamei, president of UNC, Dr. John Pulamte, president of Hmar Inpui, Thangkhosei Haokip, president of Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) and L B Sona, president of Zomi Council outrightly rejected the three Bills passed in the Assembly. The meeting condemned in strongest term the brutal action of state security forces wherein 8 innocent people were killed including a minor and scores of people were injured at Churachandpur. Expressing condolences to the bereaved families, the meeting termed the victims as ‘Martyrs’. The meeting also endorsed and appreciated the decision of the Joint Action Committee Churachandpur for withdrawing its earlier decision to demand ex-gratia and government jobs to the next of kins from State government. The frontal organizations also decided to firmly uphold the unity of Manipur tribals and to fight together for a common cause. The meeting resolved to have another joint meeting at the earliest. It may be mentioned that on August 31, three bills - the Protection of Manipur Peoples Bill- 2015, Manipur Land Revenue & land Reforms (Seventh Amendment) Bill- 2015 and Manipur Shop & Establishment (Second Amendment) Bill- 2015 were passed by the Manipur Legislative Assembly. In this connection, the United Naga Council (UNC), Zomi Council (ZC), Hmar Inpui and Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) took five resolutions after a threadbare discussion on the political situation.